Hokuto Kombat: Legend of the True Savior
by Snafu the Great
Summary: Overhauled the original story. We all know how MK9 ends. But what if the Elder Gods decide to intervene and summon Kenshiro to Earthrealm as their champion? How would the events change? How would Kenshiro's presence change the fates of the Forces of Light? And how would Kenshiro and Raiden react when they find out that Shao Kahn has summoned Raoh to fight for Outworld?
1. Prologue: The Savior and the Conqueror!

**Hokuto Kombat: Legend of the True Savior**

A Fist of the North Star/Mortal Kombat Crossover

By Snafu the Great

Disclaimer: Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star is Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's brainchild. Mortal Kombat belongs to Ed Boon, Warner Bros. Interactive, and Netherrealm Studios. Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage/Hokuto Musou belongs to Tecmo Koei. This was an idea I had going on for a while and Fist of the North Star was not my first choice for this fic. The whole time-travel schtick was something I wanted to do, but I could not figure out what to splice Mortal Kombat 9 with. It would have been amusing to see Kazuya Mishima or his son achieve a measure of redemption, or Ryu going on a Dark Hadou trip on Kahn and his Outworld chums, or Akuma playing the wild card. Maybe Ryu Hayabusa and/or Kasumi, Ayane and Hayate could hack and slash their way to victory. I even skipped over Big Boss (in his prime), Revolver Ocelot, Solid Snake and Meryl. Hell, even Dante, Trish, Nero, and Vergil were on my list, aside from Guy, Cody, and Strider Hiryu. Would have been even more hilarious to see Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser fight all comers, Earthrealm and Outworld...as well as each other. Asura would have been overkill. Wolverine, Cyclops, Luke Cage, Doctor Doom (yes, **that** Doom), Magneto, and Hulk were other prospects, but I skipped them.

In the end, I chose Fist of the North Star, having been a fan of the anime and manga ever since I was a kid. The Gary Daniels movie does not count, as that was a mockery of the series.

The ideas began to form while I was working on Resident Evil: A Change In Pace and Naruto: Wrath of the Emperor. You know how Mortal Kombat 9 ends: The Forces of Light have been decimated, and Shinnok and Quan Chi are poised to invade Earth. But what if the Elder Gods had an insurance policy in the form of the 64th successor of Hokuto Shinken? How would things play out if Kenshiro decides to bust some heads (pun intended)? How would the fate of the Forces of Light change? But that does not mean that things will be easy for the Forces of Light, seeing as how Kenshiro is on their side, as Shao Kahn has Raoh in his service (taking the place of Kratos).

**About Hokuto Kombat:** Just as how the Fallout universe had split from our timeline following World War II, the Hokuto no Ken timeline has split from that of Mortal Kombat's own timeline, some 2,000 years before the Great Kung Lao's defeat in Mortal Kombat. Whereas the MK universe has to contend with gods and the threat of invasion from hostile realms, the Hokuto universe had the nuclear war and the rise of various warlords each wanting to rule in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Various characters from the Hokuto universe also exist on Earthrealm (some, not all), and some of them have connections with the MK cast. Most of the storyline from Hokuto no Ken will be based off of Ken's Rage, as well as Kenshiro's appearance. Oh, and just to warn you, this story does has some twists in the plot, as well as references from both series...as well as exploding body parts galore. Last, I will like to credit the Mortal Kombat Wiki and the Hokuto Renkitōza Wiki for my research into this fanfic, as well as Azure Dragon of the East for inspiring me to write this. Otherwise, enjoy.

**Update:** I've been looking over the chapters of Hokuto Kombat and in some chapters, I've added more content, or revamped several scenes. Second, whenever a Hokuto technique is used, there will be a short description of said technique at the end of the chapter for those who are not familiar with Hokuto techniques. Last, since I forgot to add this, since Kenshiro is speaking English, his English voice is that from Ken's Rage 1, while Raoh's English voice is from Ten no Haoh (Legend of the Dark King)

**PART ONE: THE TOURNAMENT**

**Prologue: A New Legend Emerges! Enter the Savior and the Conqueror! **

"_I can say without a doubt that there are an infinite number of universes. Some are just like our own...but for one or two significant events, exactly the same."_

- Lex Luthor

Across a black screen, the following text appears:

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS

As these words fade, the familiar image of the Mortal Kombat Dragon logo begins to appear in the same fashion as it does in the movies (only with the main theme from Ken's Rage/Hokuto Musou playing). The words fade out, and more words appear.

A NETHERREALM STUDIOS PRODUCTION

IN ASSOCIATION WITH TECMO KOEI

The MK Logo is now seen in its full glory, save that it's the revamped version seen in MK9.

A SNAFU THE GREAT FANFICTION

The words fade out just as seven stars are superimposed over the MK Logo, shaped in the form of the Big Dipper. The title screen appears.

HOKUTO KOMBAT: Legend of the True Savior

A montage begins to play, showing the masters of Hokuto Shinken in action. First up, is the 62nd successor of Hokuto Shinken, Kenshiro Kasumi (Fist of the Blue Sky/Souten no Ken). We see Kenshiro Kasumi inside a restaurant, killing the Emperor's bodyguards, followed by him performing the **Tomon Ketsu Ha Shiso (Finger Strikes That Tears Holes In The Gate)** on Goran.

NIGHTWOLF (voice-over): There is a forbidden martial art – the ultimate killing style – that has been passed down in secret from one successor to the next.

Next, we see an older Ramon Kasumi – better known as Ryuken – training the four brothers: Kenshiro, Raoh, Toki and Jagi.

LIU KANG (voice-over): The style is known as **Hokuto Shinken (Divine Fist of the North Star)**. Two thousand years ago, the style was created during the era of the Three Kingdoms.

Next clip is that of Toki from Shin Kyuseishu Densetsu Hokuto No Ken: Toki Den, practicing in the courtyard of the Hokuto Renkitōza as Kenshiro, Yuria and Raoh watch in the background. The next clips are of him post nuclear war, using his skills to heal the sick, and defending himself against Raoh.

JOHNNY CAGE (voice-over): Now, the style of Hokuto Shinken was created by Western Buddhists in secret in order to protect their teachings from the rival warlords who ravaged the lands.

Raoh is next. We see him on his steed, Koukou-Goh, in full armor, leading his army into battle. The clips showing him are from Raoh Gaiden and Ten no Haoh. Then we see him fight, Juza of the Clouds, Toki, and several other warriors.

SONYA BLADE (voice-over): As the deadly art was so feared throughout the lands, Hokuto Shinken also earned itself a second name – the 'Fist of the God of Death.' Once peace was finally restored, the style soon became a legend.

Last, is the 64th successor, Kenshiro. Most of his action scenes are from Shin Hokuto no Ken and Shin Kyuseishu Densetsu Hokuto No Ken: Kenshiro Den. But we also see a revamped scene in which he kills Zeed and rescues Lin, as well as fighting Souther, Jagi, and Raoh himself.

PRINCESS KITANA (voice-over): This is the story of not only of Mortal Kombat, but the story of a man out of time. A man from an alternative Earth that has been ravaged by nuclear fire. This is the story of the Man with the Seven Scars...the Savior of Century's End.

The screen then fades to black as he music ends.

RAIDEN (voice-over): This is the story of how he saved us all.

* * *

An unknown temple.

Pain. His body was hurting all over. He was bleeding from several wounds he had suffered during the battle with Raoh at the ruins of the Hokuto Renkitōza.

'The Hokuto Renkitōza!'

Kenshiro's eyes snapped open. Instead of the night sky, where he was fighting his brother, he found himself inside a temple of unknown origin. The last thing he remembered before being sucked through a strange portal was fighting his older brother.

'Is this it?' he thought. 'Did I fail? Did I fail my master and Toki in trying to stop Raoh's ambition? Did I fail to save my beloved Yuria?'

Kenshiro found out that it hurt even to move. Even the seven scars on his chest were bleeding. Raoh had worked him over pretty good in their battle. But despite the fact that several of his ribs were broken, he got to his feet...if only for a moment, as he had went down to one knee, one hand holding his side.

Despite his injuries, he was capable to scan his surroundings. He definitely was not at the old Hokuto training field, but rather, a temple of some kind. It was old, and not ravaged by the nuclear maelstrom. Raoh was nowhere to be seen. Neither Bat nor Lin. Not even Yuria.

"Welcome to my temple, Kenshiro. I have been expecting you."

Kenshiro turned his head. The voice was female, and it echoed throughout the temple's inner sanctum. Kenshiro heard no malice in her tone, but compassion. To him, it reminded him of Yuria.

She emerged from the shadows, facing the wounded Hokuto warrior. Part of her face was concealed by the hood she wore which covered her eyes. The rest of her clothing was of unknown origin, the top being two pieces of cloth which covered her chest, the skirt covering her legs and feet.

"Who...who are you?" Kenshiro asked, still wary.

"I am Delia, The Lady of the Flames. I am not your enemy, Kenshiro." She then raised one hand. Kenshiro watched as a blue flame blossomed into the palm. "Perhaps this will earn your trust."

Before he could react, Delia flung the flame at Kenshiro, engulfing him. The fire was not burning him, Kenshiro realized. It was healing him. His wounds closed up, the blood vanished. His clothing was even renewed. In short, he felt a whole lot better than he had ever felt in a long time.

Delia sized the man up as he rose to his full height. Muscular, standing six-feet-one, originally from Shura no Kuni (Land of Shura), Kenshiro was the master and successor of Hokuto Shinken.

"Where...what is this place?" Kenshiro asked, having moved Delia out of the 'Enemy Category' in his brain.

"One of my temples," the sorceress replied. "I have had my eye on you for a long time, Kenshiro." Before Kenshiro could reply, Delia raised one hand. "No. Not like that. I know that you are loyal to your fiancee, Yuria. I brought you here for a specific purpose."

"What purpose is that?"

"You were brought here by the Elder Gods to act on their behalf. We need your help."

"My help? And who are the Elder Gods?"

"The Elder Gods, in short, are the supreme deities of the universe. As some other Gods have jurisdiction over one realm and represent an element, the Elder Gods on the other hand, are ethereal and have authority and power in all realms. My husband, Argus, is an Elder God."

Kenshiro took a moment to digest this information. Delia's words reminded him of the stories of myth that Ryuken once told him and his brothers in his youth. The look on his face showed Delia that he understood.

"Unlike your original Earth, in which mankind has destroyed himself with his own weapons of destruction, Earthrealm is one of several realms. Here, aside from Earthrealm, we have five, the others being Orderrealm, Chaosrealm, Netherrealm, and Outworld."

Kenshiro nodded, showing that he understood Delia so far.

"Our main threat comes from Outworld," Delia explained. "Ruled by the Emperor, Shao Kahn."

Using her powers, she created an astral projection of the man in question. Tall, just like Raoh, Kenshiro deduced, clad in spiked armor, and just as muscular. His face was concealed by a helmet crafted out of a skull. The red eyes glowed with an inhuman power. The second projection she created was that of an old man dressed like a mandarin.

"This is Shao Kahn, the Emperor of Outworld. He is a brute of a warrior and a master of the black arts. His chief sorcerer is Shang Tsung, also a powerful warrior in his own right. Shang Tsung is especially dangerous, as he steals the souls of fallen warriors in order to sustain his own life. Kahn is a bloodthirsty conqueror, and will stop at nothing until the realms are under his control, which is why a fail-safe was developed by the Elder Gods in order to give the realms a fighting chance to defend itself against Shao Kahn."

"A martial arts tournament. Originally, it was known as the Shaolin Tournament of Martial Arts. But it is mostly known as Mortal Kombat. The tournament is held once a generation, and the rules are simple: win ten consecutive tournaments in a row, and the victor can enter the realm unopposed. Any attempt to merge the realms without winning the tournament is an automatic death sentence. Through Mortal Kombat, Kahn was able to invade Edenia, my homeland, and absorbed into Outworld. He killed the reigning king, took his wife as his queen and adopted their daughter as his own. But now, Earthrealm is threatened by Kahn. His forces has already won nine Mortal Kombats. This will be the tenth and should Earthrealm fail – the final tournament."

"So you want me to compete in the tournament?"

"Yes. But there's more to the story. Following the conclusion of the tournament, a series of events will lead to Armageddon."

Delia dismissed the astral projections of Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn and used her powers to show Kenshiro a series of events. A war between good and evil at the base of a giant pyramid. Kenshiro easily identified Shao Kahn, who was fighting with another man, dressed in black armor, eyes red.

"Raiden, god of thunder and lightning," Delia explained. "Earthrealm's protector."

Kenshiro nods as he watched as the battle came down to Shao Kahn and Raiden, with Raiden on the receiving end of a vicious beating at the hands of the Konqueror. Fighting with the idea of interfering, he stopped when Delia placed a slender hand on his forearm.

"Don't. These are shadows of what may be."

Kenshiro sighed as he turned back to the battle. It became obvious that Shao Kahn had won.

"Where are the Elder Gods, Raiden?" Kahn taunted, laughing as he walked over to the fallen thunder god. "Their pathetic Mortal Kombat shackles me no longer."

Kenshiro winced as Kahn assaults Raiden before flinging him across the pyramid top.

Kahn then materializes a massive stone hammer. "They masquerade as dragons, but are mere toothless worms," he sneers right before slamming his boot into Raiden's chest. "My venom spreads. It is the end of all things."

Kenshiro could see Kahn's touki (fighting aura) radiating off of both himself and of his signature weapon. Delia explained to Kenshiro that Kahn had absorbed the power of a being that Kahn was not to have.

"Armageddon," Kahn intoned.

"STOP!" Raiden shouts, but to no avail, as Kahn picks him up effortlessly with one hand.

"It is done," the Emperor replied in triumph as he throws Raiden again. "Your time has passed. Ages wasted in foolish resistance. Now it is the dawn of my rule!"

Raiden crawled over the broken amulet and began to chant. The amulet begins to crackle with energy.

"Yes. Pray to the worms, Raiden. As your world ends."

Kenshiro turned away as Kahn slammed the hammer down onto Raiden's skull. However, Kenshiro had heard Raiden whisper something before Kahn had smashed his head in.

"...He must win."

When he looked back to Delia, he found himself back inside the temple.

"In his attempt to try and stave off Armageddon," Delia continued, "Raiden sent visions of these events to his past self. Despite his best intentions, Raiden managed to make things worse."

With those words, she showed Kenshiro a second series of visions. Several of them stood out. A man with the power of ice being created into a humanoid abomination. A woman slaughtering scores of warriors before finally being brought down in a heroic sacrifice by one of the surviving warriors. And a pale-skinned man and a fallen god pulling the strings from the shadows. Earth's final destruction.

"Kenshiro...I know this must be hard for you," Delia said. "But I did not lie when I said that the Elder Gods needed your help. You will not be alone in this task, as there are allies to help you achieve your goal. You may be the master of Hokuto Shinken – a style designed to kill – but I can see inside your soul. You have a kind and generous heart. Raiden has his champion. We ask that you become ours. Use the power of your fists, Savior of Century's End, and save us all."

Kenshiro remained silent.

"The Elder Gods do not forget those who come to their aid," the sorceress continued. "If you are successful in your task, Kenshiro, the Elder Gods will restore your Earth, and you will be reunited with your beloved. You have my word. You have the Elder Gods' promise."

Kenshiro weighed his options. A chance to return to Earth that was not ravaged by the horrors of nuclear war was tempting. In the end, it proved to be too tempting to pass up.

He looked at Delia. "Okay. I'll do it. I will act as the Elder Gods' champion."

Delia bowed in gratitude. "I thank you, Kenshiro." She then raised her hand. Kenshiro turned around and saw that another portal has opened up behind him. "Hey. Catch."

Kenshiro turned around and he caught a scroll tossed to him by the Lady of the Flame. Looking at the scroll, he ran his thumb along the wax seal. A stylized dragon head in a circle. The dragon's tongue curled out, forked into a double point. The eye narrow and evil.

"It will allow you to compete in the tournament being held on Shang Tsung's Island," Delia explained. "Be warned. The tournament is nothing like you have ever seen, Kenshiro. Good Luck."

Kenshiro pocketed the scroll and bowed to Delia, who responded with a solemn nod of the head. Kenshiro turned around without hesitation, leapt through the portal.

* * *

Argus watched from the shadows as the Man with the Seven Scars leapt through the portal, Delia closing it behind him. The Edenian Elder God approached his wife. "Are you sure that this is the best course of action?" he asked.

"I am sure," Delia replied. "I have watched Kenshiro for quite some time. He is the one who can deliver us from Armageddon. Daegon has become corrupted and thinks us dead. Taven is still asleep. And Rain has turned traitor to his people, and to you."

Argus sighed. "I still don't like it."

"Have faith, husband," the sorceress replied. "Kenshiro will do his duty to us. And he will be rewarded justly when the time comes."

"I hope you are right, Delia. For all our sakes."

* * *

At the same time, in Outworld...

The Emperor, Shao Kahn, stood out over his balcony, watching the angry red sky. The Konqueror had waited for many, many years, his forces fighting through the Mortal Kombat tournaments designed by the Elder Gods. Now, this was the tenth and final tournament.

'And soon, Earthrealm will be mine,' Kahn thought, red eyes glowing in anticipation of winning the final tournament.

Shao Kahn was a mountain of a man, standing well over seven feet tall, and insanely muscular. A helmet which was formed out of a skull was placed over his horned face. His attire consisted of spiked armor: shoulder pads, greaves and wrist guards. A blood-red cape was draped over his shoulders.

Before becoming the Emperor of Outworld, Kahn was originally the adviser to its previous ruler, Onaga. Lusting for power, Kahn had poisoned the Dragon King and took his throne, and the nickname 'the Konqueror.'

Kahn looked out into the sky and saw an ominous sign. A star, shining brightly than the others. For nearly a year, the stat had shone brightly into the heavens.

"In my former homeland, they call it **Shichōsei**," Shang Tsung said as he walked out onto the balcony, hands behind his back. "The Death Omen Star. Legend has it that whoever gazes upon the star will die within the year."

Shang Tsung was Shao Kahn's chief Shadow Priest. Originally from China, Shang Tsung was a former student in the back arts, having been trained by Shao Kahn himself. Over five centuries ago, Shang was a competitor in the Mortal Kombat tournament. However, he was caught cheating in the tournament and was sentenced to death. Shao Kahn, however, intervened upon seeing the potential that Shang had, and took him on as his pupil.

When Shang was caught stealing the soul of a fallen warrior in Earthrealm, the Elder Gods had cursed him, forcing him to take the souls of fallen warriors, lest he would rapidly age and die. A side effect of absorbing the souls of those killed was that Shang had acquired their memories, of which had proven to be beneficial to him in the long run.

Shang had the appearance of an old man; white hair, moustache. Even the eyes were solid white. He also had a taste for fine clothing, as he was dressed like a mandarin.

"Legends..." Kahn repeated. "I have no need for baseless Earthrealm legends. I want results. I have waited for over five hundred years for this moment. Is everything prepared?"

Shang nodded. "Yes, Emperor. In one week's time, the tenth and final tournament will take place. In one week's time, Earthrealm will be yours."

"Yes...but this...Death Star nonsense bothers me," Kahn said. "I want to be absolutely sure that Raiden and his mortals do not win."

"There is something that you can do," Shang began. "Something that can ensure total victory over Raiden and the Elder Gods."

Kahn folded his arms across his chest. "Continue."

"An ancient ritual, from the time of Onaga, the Dragon King," Shang said, inwardly smirking at the frown that marred Kahn's face at the mentioning of his predecessor. "One that can summon and enslave the most powerful warrior of all time. But...there is a price to pay. In order for the ritual to work, you must sacrifice the souls of your vanguard. I have just the candidate in order for our plans to succeed."

"**My** plans," Kahn corrected, glaring at the sorcerer.

Shang bowed. "Yes...please forgive me. My visions have shown me the finest of warriors, one who calls himself Ken-Oh – The King of Fists. His skills are extraordinary. There were others, such as the Spartan warrior from ancient Greece, and the undead pirate wielding the cursed blades...but this man is the one who can and will tilt the odds in your favor."

Kahn rubbed his chin in thought. "An enticing thought...and for the spell to work will cost only the souls of my vanguard? The souls of fifty for the power of one?"

Shang nodded. "Yes."

Kahn weighed his options. The odds were already in his favor with Goro as the tournament's champion. The Lin Kuei – of which Shang has hired – were on task to eliminate any of Raiden's warriors from the shadows. And then, there was Quan Chi.

Kahn never fully trusted Quan Chi, as his loyalties were to Shinnok, the fallen Elder God. "Is the necromancer participating in the tournament?"

"Quan Chi? Yes, Emperor."

"I don't trust him. Something tells me that he has his own agenda, one that does not coincide with my plans. Then there's the Black Dragon member you have hired along with the Lin Kuei."

"You mean Kano?" Shang corrected. "What about him?"

"The man is a lot like Quan Chi when it comes to his own motives," Kahn stated. "Why would you retain the services of such a disreputable cretin like him? At least Sektor and the Lin Kuei can be trusted."

"True. Kano has no morals, no dignity and no manners. Yet he will serve your purpose. Men like him can amass great wealth and almost godlike power. And your decision regarding the ritual...?"

"You know the incantation to summon the warrior known as Ken-Oh?"

"Yes, Emperor."

"Summon the vanguard," Kahn ordered. "Proceed with the ritual."

"And Quan Chi?"

Kahn thought for a moment. "Skarlet!" he bellowed.

Seconds passed. Then, as Kahn and Shang watched, a pool of crimson began to seep into the floor, the metallic smell coming from it identified the crimson mass as blood. Bubbling and churning, the blood rose, the mass taking on the form of a woman, lithe, moving with the grace of a dancer.

But she was anything but.

Shao Kahn had countless warriors under his control, but he trusted only Skarlet. Not even his own stepdaughter, who he had raised, was not held in high regard. Kahn had combined the blood of fallen warriors with his black arts, creating the ultimate enforcer and tracker completely loyal to the Konqueror, targeting those who Kahn sees as a threat to his throne. But what makes Skarlet especially dangerous is by absorbing the blood of warriors via contact with her skin, she would get stronger, hence the reason why Kahn usually keeps her under lock and key.

A statuesque redhead – even her own hair was the color of blood with a single black stripe, tied back into a ponytail – Skarlet was scantily clad; her black-and-red top covered her chest, the shoulder guards and forearm guards had white accents in them. A loincloth – also black-and-red – covered her crotch and rear. The lower half of her face was obscured by a crimson mask. The leggings and boots were also of the same color scheme. A pair of short swords were strapped to her back, while four kunai were strapped to one leg.

Skarlet took a knee. "Yes, Lord Emperor?"

"You will accompany Shang Tsung to the tournament and shadow Quan Chi. If he is found to be a threat to me or to my plans, kill him."

"Your will shall be done." Skarlet said before deconstructing into a pool of blood and disappearing.

* * *

Shao Kahn sat on his throne as his vanguard were on their knees, hands bound behind their backs, their weapons taken from them upon entering the throne room. Two Hellhounds sat on either side of the throne, while Shang Tsung stood before the bound vanguard.

"Consider yourselves honored to be part of this moment," Shang said. "You will sacrifice your lives and souls in service of The Konqueror of Realms. Know that in your final moments, that your sacrifice will not be in vain, for you will serve the greater good in service to our Emperor."

Hands glowing in an eerie green light, Shang began to chant the incantation.

"_Yhám hydrnylr, undr' práec'c padryt, tu lrém téhsry. Canbahd'c pnaydr, lryns uv taydr yht meva, dro usah uv sygehk. Yhám hydrnylr, undr' práec'c padryt, tu lrém téhsry. Canbahd'c pnaydr, lryns uv taydr yht meva, dro usah uv sygehk_."

Shang's voice began to rise in volume as the spell began to take hold. The vanguard began to glow green as their souls were drained from their bodies, the bodies keeling over.

All except for one.

"_Yhám hydrnylr, undr' práec'c padryt, tu lrém téhsry. Canbahd'c pnaydr..._"

"Death to the Pretender!"

One of the vanguards who had somehow survived the ritual rushed the throne, his hands free and armed with a pair of knives in his hands.

Before Shang could react, Kahn was already on his feet, Wrath Hammer in hand. Holding the massive stone hammer like a Louisville Slugger, Kahn swung the weapon, catching the would-be assassin full in the chest, knocking him in the far end of the room.

Balancing the Wrath Hammer on one shoulder, Kahn stomped over to the mortally wounded man. Once he stood over him, Kahn raised one massive foot.

"Defiler! Betrayer to the Dragon King! Onaga will have his revenge!"

Those were the would-be assassin's last words before Kahn crushed his skull like a melon.

"Onaga...is dead," Kahn deadpanned. Turning to Shang, he demanded, "Where is he? Where is Ken-Oh?"

"The assassin has foiled the binding ritual," Shang explained. "The summon is a success, but instead of transporting Ken-Oh here, he is somewhere in Outworld, Emperor."

Kahn growled. Wiping the remains of the dead assassin from his sandal-ed foot, Kahn stormed back to his throne, the Hellhounds walking over to the headless assassin and began devouring his flesh. "Reiko!"

From the corridor, the man in question appeared. Reiko was a general in Kahn's forces, favored, but like Kitana, not fully trusted. With a powerful build and armor mimicking that which Kahn wore, save that the shoulder pads did not have any spikes and unlike Kahn, he was wearing pants. His hair was cut into a military-style crewcut, the sides shaved bare. Dark markings covered his solid white eyes.

Reiko took a knee before the Emperor. "My Emperor."

"Will you do anything to please your Emperor?" Kahn asked.

"Your word is my will, Sovereign Emperor."

"Take a scouting party with you, and search for the warrior known as Ken-Oh," Kahn commanded. "I want him alive and before me. Do not return unless it is with him at your side."

"It shall be done, Emperor."

* * *

Somewhere in Outworld, the Shichōsei glowed with a sinister crimson light. Then the star fell, causing the area to be bathed in a pure white light. When the light faded, there was a man lying facedown on the ground. Bloodied and wounded, with spiky white hair, dressed in battered armor.

Raoh, the brother of Kenshiro, the Conqueror of Century's End, has arrived in Outworld.

**Hokuto Shinken (Divine Fist of the North Star).** A 2000 year-old martial art created in China. Also known as Big Dipper God Fist. Designed to attack the opponent's pressure points to destroy them from within. The style can also be used to heal. In its history, there has been 63 successors, or grandmasters of the style, with Kenshiro being the 64th successor, having been chosen out of four adopted brothers.

**Shichōsei (Death Omen Star).** A star which is sometimes seen with the Big Dipper constellation. Anyone who sees this star is destined to die within the year. Its most notable victims were Anna, Jagi's girlfriend and Mamiya, but was spared when Rei died in her place.

Snafu's Notes: Shang's incantation to summon Raoh is The Charm of Making, from the movie Excalibur and ran through an Al Bhed Translator in both Old Irish and English, in case anyone is curious. The actual text of the spell is: 'Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making.'

**OMAKE!**

**HOKUTO KOMBAT BIO: KENSHIRO**

**Aliases:** Ken, Nanatsu no kizu no okoto (The Man With The Seven Scars), Seikimatsu Kyūseishu (Savior of Century's End), The Savior of the Post-Apocalyptic World

**Date of Birth:** 197X

**Place of Birth:** Taiseiden – Western Desert, Shura no Kuni (Land of Shura)

**Height:** 6'1"

**Weight:** 220 pounds

**Hair:** Brown

**Eyes:** Blue

**Family:** Ryuken (Ramon Kasumi), adoptive father and sifu – deceased; Raoh, eldest adopted brother; Toki, eldest adopted brother – deceased; Jagi, adopted elder brother – deceased; Kenshiro Kasumi, uncle - deceased

**Primary Costume:** Ken's Rage default costume

**Secondary Costume:** Classic 1986 anime movie costume, post-Shin

**Bonus Costume A:** Kenshiro Kasumi – casual attire from Fist of the Blue Sky (white shirt, leather jacket denim pants, shoes)

**Bonus Costume B:** Kenshiro's Shura costume from Hokuto no Ken 2 (complete with shades and Ein's weighed glove on his right hand).

**Fighting Style:** Hokuto Shinken

**Stage:** Lin's Village (located at the base of a ruined city – the tanker which is stuck inside the skyscraper is in the background. Rei, Bat, Mamiya and Lin watch the fight in the background)

**Pre-Fight Intro:** Kenshiro walks towards the opponent and cracks his knuckles before going into his stance. "Pick a spot. I'll bury you there."

**Occupation:** Sixty-Fourth Successor of Hokuto Shinken, Nomad

**X-Ray -** **Musō Tensei (Unconscious Transmigration of Souls)**: Kenshiro's X-ray is a counter, similar to Johnny Cage's X-Ray. Kenshiro assumes a defensive stance. When the opponent strikes Kenshiro, he warps behind them, then performs a sweeping roundhouse kick, followed by a rising uppercut that knocks the opponent into the air once it connects. Kenshiro – paying homage to his uncle – performs the **Tomon Ketsu Ha Shiso (Finger Strikes That Tears Holes In The Gate)** for three seconds, destroying the bones in the chest and torso. Once the opponent lands, Kenshiro finishes with the **Ganzan Ryōzan Ha (Rocky Mountain Splitting Wave)**, caving in the opponent's skull.

**Fatality 1 –** **Hokuto Hykaretsuken (North Star Hundred Crack Fist)**: Kenshiro's signature technique. He powers up to the point his jacket rips from his chest. Following a barrage of punches to the face which knocks the opponent ass over teakettle, their head explodes, but not before uttering his signature catch phrase: "**Omae wa mō...shindeiru.**" (You are already dead)

**Fatality 2 –** **Hokuto Kaikotsuken (North Star Bone Crushing Fist)**: Kenshiro taps the opponent's forehead with his index and middle finger. Seconds later, their bloody skeleton explodes from their body.

**Babality:** Baby Kenshiro is playing with a teddy bear...until he accidentally makes its head explode in a shower of stuffing, causing him to cry.

The youngest of four adopted brothers, Kenshiro is the 64th successor of Hokuto Shinken. Following a nuclear war in which mankind had nearly destroyed itself, his beloved, Yuria, was taken from him by Shin, a former friend turned enemy. Hell-bent on getting Yuria back, Kenshiro carves a path of destruction throughout the wastelands. To those he helped, he is known as the Savior of Century's End, while to his enemies, he is known as The Man With Seven Scars. While fighting his eldest brother inside the ruins of the Hokuto training field, he was sucked through a mysterious portal and brought before the sorceress Delia, wife of the Elder God Argus. Now, Kenshiro finds himself in an alternate Earth, as the representative of the Elder Gods, where he will play a critical role in not only staving off Armageddon, but to counter the bad decisions in which Raiden will make.


	2. 1: Kenshiro Arrives In Earthrealm!

**Chapter One: Kenshiro Arrives In Earthrealm! The Shaman Meets The Savior! (Rewrite)**

Snafu's Notes: A good start. This fanfic has some serious potential, so I will continue. When I first began writing Hokuto Kombat, I was going to have Kenshiro come to Earth post-Shura. But I scrapped that idea. Oh, and remember when I said that some of the Earthrealm fighters have some connections to characters from the Hokuto Universe? Read on.

South Dakota Badlands - three days before the Mortal Kombat Tournament

A small camp out in the South Dakota badlands. A lone man sat, poking at his campfire with a stick. Resting on his haunches, was his pet wolf. A worn pickup truck was parked nearby, complete with camping equipment.

The man in question was an Apache shaman, and a long way from home. He was also a fighter, standing six feet tall, with a solid muscular frame. Dark shoulder-length hair was kept out of his face by a leather headband. A necklace with an old arrowhead was around his neck. He was also dressed simply: a leather vest, which was open, showing that he had nothing on underneath, denim jeans and rawhide boots. An ornate armband was on his right bicep, while his forearms contained leather guards. His face was done up in red-and-black warpaint.

Ever since he was a child, Nightwolf loved coming to the wilderness to meditate. His father was the tribal shaman and historian before him, and had taken him out to the wilderness of Colorado for his formal education in the arts of the Apache people. A prodigy in the arts, he has what his father did not have, which is a strong connection to the spirit world. He felt a inner peace whenever he was out in the badlands. The other members of his tribe called him a dreamer, a philosopher with his head in the clouds.

The wolf's ears twitched. Then he raised his head, sniffing the air. This did not pass the shaman's attention. "Kiva? You sense it too, boy?" he asked.

There was a reason as to why he was out here this very night. He had received a series of visions earlier in the week from his home. Visions of an alternative Earth, ravaged by nuclear fire. Visions of a lone wanderer searching for what he had lost, the man himself bearing seven wounds in his chest, shaped like the Big Dipper.

These visions had all but worried Nightwolf, to the point that he had conveyed his concerns to Haokah. But he was known to the East as Raiden, the god of thunder and lightning, and protector of Earth.

* * *

[Flashback]

_Three days earlier..._

_A crackle of lightning heralded the arrival of the God of Thunder. He was taller than Nightwolf, standing seven feet even. His main attire consisted of white robes with a blue vest. The usual straw cone hat was absent, revealing long white hair. His eyes crackled electricity as he walked over to the meditating shaman/warrior._

_"Something on your mind, little wolf?" Raiden asked. "You look troubled."_

_"Haokah," Nightwolf greeted with a nod of the head, addressing Raiden with the Lakotan name of the spirit of thunder and lightning. "I have been receiving strange visions as of late."_

_"Visions? What kind of visions?"_

_"A world destroyed by man's weapons...and a man with seven wounds on his chest shaped like the Big Dipper, searching for...I don't know," Nightwolf fumed. "These visions are too vague, even for me."_

_"That is troubling," Raiden said, after thinking about it. "And the tournament is less than a week away."_

_"You think that this could be the work of Shao Kahn? Or Shang Tsung?" Nightwolf asked._

_"For all we know, it could be Shinnok and his necromancer," Raiden groused._

_"But...what if this could be a sign?" Nightwolf asked._

_"Perhaps," the thunder god rumbled. "This is the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament. If we lose, then it's over for all of us. As much faith I have in Liu Kang, it would not surprise me if that snake or his Emperor would try something sneaky in order to put their chances in their favor. This is something that we cannot ignore. Something is going to happen soon."_

_Nightwolf knew what Raiden was going to ask of him. "I will keep a lookout on things here."_

_"You do that," Raiden said before vanishing in a bolt of lightning._

[End Flashback]

* * *

Kiva barked, the howled. If one thing that Kiva could be counted on, it's that the wolf was in some cases, more attuned to the spirit world than Nightwolf.

"Something is happening," the shaman said to himself as he looked out at the night sky...

...and noticed the Big Dipper constellation shining bright in the sky.

Nightwolf watched as the last star of the constellation broke free and started to fall. The shaman watched as the star fell to a location not too far from his camp, the ground vibrating from the impact. Almost immediately, he was racing for his truck, Kiva not too far behind. Opening the driver's door, Nightwolf waited, allowing his pet wolf to jump inside, before hopping in himself.

Upon reaching the location, Nightwolf hopped out of the truck, his pet wolf following close behind. Bathed in the truck's headlights, was the form of a man, lying facedown in the ground.

"Whoever you are, please don't be dead," Nightwolf muttered as he rolled the man over to get a good look at the man's face. Japanese, with spiky dark brown hair. His clothing consisted of a black sleeveless leather jacket and matching pants, the jacket and pants having a red flame pattern design. Brown leather boots were on his feet. The jacket itself had a pretty impressive pair of shoulder pads – metal, hand-crafted. His left forearm was wrapped in white cloth, while the right had a metal gauntlet attached to it.

He checked for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found one, meaning that he was still alive. Looking down at his torso, Nightwolf noticed several odd wounds on the man's chest. Those which he could see, as the man's jacket was still closed.

'Strange,' he thought, tracing the wound with one finger. 'Looks like they were made with...with a finger.'

Upon opening the man's jacket to check for further wounds, Nightwolf gasped.

Seven finger-shaped scars were on the man's chest. Seven wounds shaped in the form of the Big Dipper constellation he had seen in the sky.

"Ancestors above...the man with seven wounds..." Nightwolf whispered. "I knew it."

Searching the man for any form of identification, he found a scroll in his pocket. One with a familiar insignia of a coiled dragon. Nightwolf knew of this insignia very well, as he too received an invite to the Mortal Kombat tournament. The remaining two items were photos. The first photo was of the man in question, with three other men, standing in front of a massive temple. The first was an old man, bald with a flowing white beard, dressed in the robes of a monk. The second man had long brown hair, also dressed in monk's robes and was smiling for the camera. The last man was a giant of a man, with spiky white hair, his expression stoic, shirtless, arms folded across his chest.

Flipping the picture over, he found writing on the back, which read, **Master Ryuken, Raoh, Toki and Kenshiro - Hokuto Renkitōza**.

The second picture was that of a lovely young woman in a summer dress. Dark violet hair framed her face as she smiled for the camera. 'Pretty,' Nightwolf mentally noted as he flipped the picture over. The text read, **To Kenshiro. Love, Yuria.**

"So...your name's Kenshiro," Nightwolf muttered as he pocketed the items, before picking the unconscious Kenshiro up and over one shoulder. Walking back to the truck, he placed Kenshiro in the truck's bed, Kiva hopping in to keep an eye on him.

'All I can do now is wait for him to wake up,' Nightwolf thought as he drove back to his camp.

* * *

(...from Kenshiro's POV)

The same dream. No, not a dream. A memory. One of few which I have no other choice but to relive. No, it was not the day that Shin had taken Yuria from me.

It was the day that the world ended.

It came shortly after I was named successor to Hokuto Shinken. Yuria wanted to spend time in the city with me. Our original plan was to catch a morning matinee and head back to the dojo. The Hokuto Renkitōza was located on the outskirts of a small town and in order to get to the city, we had to take a train.

I could see the uneasiness in Yuria's eyes. Given the fact that the world at the time was becoming politically unstable, she was fearing for the worst. But she wanted to spend time with me, and Ryuken wanted to speak with Raoh alone. Toki had already left, and Jagi was running around with his biker gang, leaving Yuria and myself.

I had told Toki that Yuria and I would be taking the train into the city. So I was not surprised when Toki pulled up in the truck which Master Ryuken had bought for the dojo, shouting that we were to go with him immediately.

"Thank the stars of Hokuto I managed to find the two of you!" Toki said as we drove into the outskirts of the city. "It's too far to get back to the Renkitōza. By that time, it'll already be too late."

"Too late?" I parroted. "For what? Toki, what is going on?"

In response, Toki turned on the radio.

"...broadcast of the Zenkoku Shunji Keihō System (J-Alert System) in Tokyo," the radio blared out. "As of this moment a state of emergency has been declared for all of Japan. We have unconfirmed reports of ICBMs launched by Great Britain, India, Israel and Pakistan. However, we have confirmed that China, Russia and the United States have launched their ICBMs. Repeat: China, Russia and the United States have launched their ICBMs."

Yuria bit her finger. "My God...they've done it...! They've actually done it!"

I too, felt numb. "Gods almighty...they've pushed the buttons..."

The radio continued to blare reports. "...reports are coming in as we speak, the Imperial family and the Japanese Prime Minister has been evacuated from the capital and are in an undisclosed location. We have confirmation that several cities on the Japanese mainland have been hit: Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai and Kokura."

"The dojo has a fallout shelter installed, so Ryuken-sensei and Raoh should be safe," Toki said as he pulled into a side street. "I don't know where Jagi is! Right now, we have to worry about ourselves!"

"Where are we going?" Yuria asked.

"There's a fallout shelter about a block away from here," my brother replied. "It's inside a parking garage. We're heading there now."

On the streets, Yuria and I watched as a Buddhist monk was waving a giant placard reading 'THE END IS NIGH' in English and Japanese as we sped by. Air raid sirens wailed throughout the city.

The radio continued to blare out the news as Toki took a hard turn down a side street. "...reports are coming in that several cities in both the U.S. and Russia have already been hit: Moscow, Volgograd, St. Petersburg, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, New York and Washington, D.C. Unconfirmed reports coming in saying that Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Pyongyang, Macau and Hong Kong have already been hit, as have Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei..."

Static soon came from the radio, just as a faint light came from the direction of Tokyo. Moments later, the radio came back on. "Umm...this is the local branch of the Zenkoku Shunji Keihō System," the voice, that of a popular DJ spoke, his voice shaky. "We...have just confirmed that Tokyo has just been hit by a nuclear warhead. I repeat: Tokyo has just been hit by a nuclear warhead. Tokyo is gone...we are going off the air now...get-get to a fallout shelter as soon as you can..."

The radio abruptly cut off as the truck slowed to a stop. Toki tried the ignition, but it was no good. The truck was dead. Around us, various electronics began to fail: traffic lights, street lights, everything.

"Electromagnetic pulse," Yuria whispered, already jumping out of the car. I was behind her. Toki cursed, but also abandoned the truck. "An airburst over us. The EMP knocked out everything electronic!"

Toki, Yuria and I turn into the direction of Tokyo. We were far, but we could see the ominous mushroom cloud forming in the distance. Forming over where Tokyo once stood. Several innocent bystanders were also watching the cloud rise. One woman was petrified to the point where she urinated on herself.

"We must hurry!" Toki shouted. "We're almost out of time!"

I grab Yuria's wrist and we both took off after Toki. The streets were nearly deserted, which made it a lot easier to navigate. Overhead, the missiles sailed past us, leaving a trail of exhaust fumes in the angry sky. The parking garage was a lot closer than expected. Toki led us down into the side door marked **FALLOUT SHELTER**, and down a flight of stairs and through a winding corridor.

Then, the corridor began to shake, as if the gods themselves had unleashed their wrath. We all knew what was happening. The city has been hit above us, and the dying began en masse. Yuria stumbled, but I caught her. "Almost there," I heard Toki shout as we resumed our mad dash through the corridor.

When we reached the fallout shelter, we saw that it was already occupied. There were over fifty children inside - boys and girls, dressed in their school uniforms. Also present were ten adults, teachers obviously, the eldest one being a woman - the school's headmistress. They all looked scared, and had good reason to be. The end of the world was here.

The old woman looked at the three of us. "I...I'm sorry!" she blurted out. "We only got enough room for one more! Two at the most!"

The fallout from the blast would be here soon and we had to choose among ourselves who would be the ones to decide who would remain behind and die.

Toki made that decision for the three of us. He shoved both Yuria and myself inside the shelter.

"Toki! Hurry!" I shouted as the doors begin to close.

But Toki did not move from his place outside of the shelter. Instead, he pushed the both of us further inside. "Kenshiro, prove to me that Sensei made the right choice in making you the successor. Prove to me that you can protect Yuria."

"Brother, why?!" I demanded as the doors closed.

"I trust you, Kenshiro..." was all that Toki said before the doors closed, the automatic locks snapping into place.

"No..." I tried to pry open the doors, but no use. "Damn it, Toki! Why?!"

"Ken, no!" Yuria shouted, holding me back. "You open that door, everyone inside will die from the fallout! Toki sacrificed his life to save ours!"

All I could do was scream out Toki's name.

"Toki...TOKI!"

* * *

"TOKI!" Kenshiro sat up, shouting his brother's name.

"Bad dream?" a voice asked.

Looking around, Kenshiro found the source of the voice. Seated across from him, with a blazing campfire separating the two, was Nightwolf. He was poking the fire with a stick, while Kiva sat nearby, amber eyes watching the younger man.

Kenshiro looked at the shaman. His aura reminded him of Toki. Seeing as how he was not a threat, Kenshiro responded with a nod. "More like a memory," he replied. He the looked around. "Where am I?"

"My camp, in the South Dakota badlands," Nightwolf replied. "I am Nightwolf. I hope for your sake, that you are a friend rather than a foe."

"I like to see myself as a friend," Kenshiro replied mildly. "Name's Kenshiro."

At that, Kiva stood up and walked over to Kenshiro. Almost by reflex, Kenshiro held out his hand, allowing the wolf to sniff at his palm, with Nightwolf watching the scene intently. After a moment, Kiva licked Kenshiro's palm. Kenshiro began to pet the wolf, running his hand along the black-and-white fur.

"Kiva likes you," Nightwolf noted. "He hardly likes anybody."

"First time a wolf actually likes me instead of trying to eat me," replied Kenshiro. "You said South Dakota? I'm in America?"

Nightwolf nodded. He then produced a canteen of water and several pieces of dried meat. "Here. You must be hungry," he said, handing the Hokuto warrior the food.

Kenshiro nodded his thanks and began to eat. "You must be out here for a purpose, not just to look at the stars," he said.

The Apache shaman/martial artist nodded. "Your insight serves you well," he said. "I am a shaman of the Apache people, as well as its historian. I have received visions of a man with seven scars shaped in the form of the Big Dipper."

"I guess I'm your man," Kenshiro said as he took a pull from the canteen.

Nightwolf paused for a moment. "You are from Earth, yet...you seem out of place. Where are you truly from?"

"If I told you, you would think I'm insane."

"Try me."

Kenshiro took a moment to gather his thoughts. "You are aware that there are other realms aside from this one, right?" When Nightwolf nodded, Kenshiro continued. "As you already guessed, I am from Earth. Just not from this Earth."

[Here, the scene fades, and we go into a series of flashbacks as Kenshiro continues to speak. The flashbacks in question are those detailing the nuclear war from the opening from New Fist of the North Star/Shin Hokuto no Ken and Hokuto no Ken Toki Den.]

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) The Earth which I am from...mankind has succeeded in destroying his world. The Earth was decimated by nuclear fire. No one knew who had pushed the button, and by the end of the day, no one cared.

[Next shots is that of a ruined city, including the infamous 'tanker-impales-skyscraper' shot from the 1986 movie, followed by the souls of those who had died rising into the heavens.]

NIGHTWOLF: (voice-over) A nuclear war...

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) The lands cracked...the oceans dried up...I saw it happen...and I survived it. Civilization was wiped out overnight...governments vanished...but mankind survived. The fires of life were sputtering. And had it went out, then it would not be reignited.

[Scenes of violence: Zeed and his gang, Jagi and his own forces, Souther and his men, Raoh and his army.]

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) The strong preyed upon the weak. Uncontaminated food and water became more valuable than gold. I wandered the wastes, looking for my fiancee, who was stolen from me by my former best friend. The scars on my chest are his handiwork.

[Scene of where Shin gives Kenshiro the seven scars.]

SHIN: Yuria. Tell me you love me.

[Scenes of Kenshiro in action.]

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) I was originally forgiving towards my enemies until that moment. Never again. I traveled the wastes with my allies, giving the people hope. To my enemies, I was known as The Man with the Seven Scars. To the people I had helped, I was known to them as Seikimatsu Kyūseishu - Savior of Century's End.

NIGHTWOLF: (voice-over) How did you end up here?

[Shots of the battle between Kenshiro and Raoh inside the Hokuto training field, leading up to Kenshiro being sucked through a portal.]

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) Your thunder god has his champion. I'm here on a higher authority.

NIGHTWOLF: (voice-over, surprised) The Elder Gods sent you?

[Here, the flashback scenes end.]

Kenshiro nodded. "Yes." He finished off the canteen. "I'm here for the tournament. Raiden has his representatives. I am here on the Elder Gods' behalf. That's all I can say for the moment. Please keep this to yourself, as I do not want anyone to know. At least not yet. All I am is just a Japanese guy looking to hone my technique."

Nightwolf slowly nodded. "I understand. The tournament is in three days. More than enough time to prepare."

* * *

South Lake Tahoe, California.

Inside the training room of a spacious retreat sitting on the edge of Lake Tahoe, they were at it again.

A man and woman were sparring inside the training room. Or rather, the woman was attacking while the man was defending, casually swatting her attacks to the side with his hands, the smirk on his face causing the woman's attacks to increase in intensity.

The man was tall, six-feet-one, muscular, with unruly dark brown hair. A pair of sunglasses (similar as to what a certain blond superman from a certain survival horror game would wear) covered his blue eyes. His attire consisted of a pair tight-fitting black shorts, with a red sash tied at the waist. Spiked bracelets were on his wrists. A pair of black slippers were on his feet.

His opponent was a statuesque blonde, only three inches shorter than he was. Blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, complete with a black headband to keep the bangs out of her hair. Her training outfit was a sleeveless black shirt with the word 'MARINES' emblazoned in white, and a pair of old camouflage fatigues. A pair of black gloves were on her hands. Her azure eyes burned with determination as she tried to pop her opponent one.

"You're getting better," the male said, the smirk not leaving his face. "You almost caught me."

"Give me a second," the blonde replied, fists raised. "I just may surprise you."

He took a step back to avoid a roundhouse kick from his opponent. Then he hopped back as she performed a cartwheel.

The pair were diametric opposites of one another. He was a movie star; she was a military officer. The one thing in common was that they were both martial artists.

That, and being two of Raiden's chosen warriors.

Had you told either person that they were to compete in a otherworldly tournament with the lives of billions hanging in the balance, he would have thought that you was pitching an idea for another blockbuster movie. In her case, she would have sent whoever had said that to the funny farm.

Sonya Blade had grown up in a military family. A second-generation Marine, and a fourth-generation military officer, Sonya originally hailed from Austin, Texas, but had spent her childhood and part of her teenage years bouncing around various military installations from Germany to Okinawa. Like any girl, she idolized her father, Herman Blade, who was a Major in the Marine Corps and served with the Corps' Force Recon. Her mother, Erica Blade, was When she was fifteen, he had embarked on a covert mission...and never returned.

Vowing to honor her father's memory, she gained a military scholarship to attend the U.S. Military Academy and upon graduating, accepted a commission to the Marine Corps. Her impulsiveness did not win her any popularity contests, but her will and drive did earn her the attention of fellow Marine, Major Jackson Briggs, who recruited Sonya into his unit. But with Sonya, her success came mixed with tragedy, as she had lost her twin brother, Daniel Blade, in a car accident. Despite losing both her father and brother, Sonya managed to make it to the rank of First Lieutenant.

John Carlton was the eldest child of working-class parents. Born and raised in the Canals District of Venice Beach, he was the son of a retired LAPD detective, Robert 'Maverick Bob' Carlton and Rose Carlton, a retired schoolteacher. Rather than live in his father's shadow and join the police force, John had made his own path. Growing up with a cop for a dad had made John the target of many a bully, which is why his parents had their son take Karate classes for self-defense.

By the time John was in middle school, he was a black belt. By the time he was a freshman, he was the state junior martial arts champion.

Upon graduating high school, he found work in Hollywood's film industry, working as a stuntman and choreographer, while at the same time, attending university with creative writing and film as his majors. By the time he graduated from college, fate had given him a shot at the big time. His younger sister, Rebecca, had once said after seeing her brother fight, that he had the talent of manipulating the opponent into making mistakes, as if he was backing them into a cage, right before delivering the coup de grace.

Ironic as how it was his sister who had given him his stage name. Thus, John Carlton became Johnny Cage.

His first film, 'Ninja Mime,' bombed in America, but became very popular in France.

Learning from his first movie, Johnny's second movie, 'Massive Strike,' had been his star-making role. Since then, he had become one of Hollywood's highest-paid movie stars. As his star rose, so did his ego, following winning an Oscar for 'Sudden Violence.' Despite his shallowness, he was still Venice Beach's favorite son, donating some of his cash to various charities. He even paid off the mortgage to his parents' home and sent his sister to college.

He was a fan-favorite, and his infamous 'Shadow Kick' became his trademark. Despite his fame, he had his enemies. Mostly his film critics, who denounced his films as special effects and wire work. Johnny merely shrugged them off.

That was nearly eight years ago. Two years ago, Johnny's life would change forever. That was when he had met Sonya.

He had finished shooting a movie in Miami and had decided to stay an extra day, taking in the sights...and stumbled upon an ambush. He would later find out that Kano had set Sonya up to be killed by members of the Black Dragon, the hit squad itself was being led by Kano's longtime friend, Jarek. Sonya would have been killed too, had it not been for Johnny's intervention. The Black Dragon assigned to kill Sonya were dead to the last man, Johnny having been forced to kill them in self-defense. Sonya had been injured, and was not happy to find out that she had been saved by a civilian, let alone a movie star.

As a result of this, Jax and Sonya began to watch Johnny's every move. When Johnny left the city for his private retreat in South Lake Tahoe, both Jax and Sonya decided to make their move. Before Johnny knew what was happening, he found himself inside an interrogation room inside the federal building in downtown L.A., having been 'escorted' there by a squad of Special Forces troops under Jax's command.

* * *

[Flashback]

_Edward P. Roybal Federal Building - Los Angeles, California._

_All Johnny wanted to do was to enjoy his two-week vacation at his retreat in South Lake Tahoe. However, he found himself being hauled in by an unknown agency and taken to the Roybal Building in downtown Los Angeles. This was not the first time that Johnny had been to the Roybal Building. He played a federal agent in 'Massive Strike,' of which he researched the role with help of several FBI agents, some of which were located inside the building._

_Johnny sat inside an interrogation room, not looking the least bit concerned as to why he was here. He had been inside the interrogation room for at least an hour. He could only guess that whoever it was wanted him to sweat a bit under the pressure. Whoever was watching him on the other side of that one-way mirror, they were going to be disappointed. _

_After another thirty minutes, the door opened and in walked a man. African-American, shaved head, built like a linebacker, his stance radiating authority. From the style of the camouflage fatigues, Johnny saw that he was military. The name tag on his jacket read BRIGGS. He took a seat and after a brief stare-down, began to read the dossier._

_"Johnny Cage," the man read. "Born John Robert Carlton. Born to working-class parents. One younger sister. One ex-wife. Fluent in several languages, including Latin. Martial artist, with black belts in several fighting styles. Movie superstar with several Oscars and other awards. Philanthropist." He flipped the folder closed. "Do you know why you are here, Cage?"_

_"Enlighten me."_

_"Does Miami ring a bell?"_

_Johnny nodded. "Finished a project down there three weeks ago." Realization then came across his face. "The blond woman who got jumped by those goons...she worked for you, right?" _

_The man nodded._

_Johnny leaned back in his chair. "You could have sent me a thank-you card for saving her life My agent would have delivered it to me. The eight-man retrieval squad was a bit over-the-top, even for me." He paused for a moment. "I can tell that you are not here to kill me, otherwise we would not be having this conversation. From the way you and the blond carry yourselves, you are either federal agents...or military. Right now, judging by your fatigues, I'm leaning towards the latter."_

_"How perspective of you," Sonya said as she stepped into the room, looking very cross. _

_"Sonya Blade. Right on time," the man said._

_Johnny looked at her. The last time that she had saw Johnny was back when he had saved her life. The last time he saw her, she was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt with a leather jacket, combat fatigues and a pair of boots. Now, she was dressed in the same leather jacket, only this time, the shirt was white and the pants were black. She still had on the same boots far as he could tell. She stood to the side and behind Jax, arms folded._

_"So she has a name," said Johnny. "What about you?"_

_"Major Jackson Briggs, U.S. Marine Corps, Special Forces. Call me Jax."_

_"Good. Now we all know each other. So what do the two of you want with me?" _

_"Even though I am grateful that you saved Sonya's life," Jax began, "Sonya and I find it very suspicious that you were there to save Sonya from being killed by six men."_

_"You think that I'm with whoever set Sonya up." It was not a question, but a statement. Off Jax and Sonya's surprised expressions, Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "When your dad is a police detective, you tend to pick up on some of his habits, such as attention to detail. To answer your unspoken question, I am not the bad guy. I play a couple in my moves, but I'm a nice guy in real life. I'm just a guy from Venice Beach who just got lucky, is all."_

_"The men in question who jumped me were part of a group known as the Black Dragon," Sonya explained. "They are a organization of mercenaries, extortionists, thieves and killers. Originally, they were a splinter group from the Red Dragon, but has grown into a force that has threatened the Red Dragon's power."_

_"One of the men there was a man named Jarek," Jax continued. "He is friends with Kano, the current senior member of the Black Dragon. The same Jarek which was there leading the ambush."_

_"So you brought me here thinking that I am either a mole for the Black Dragon or a member of the Red Dragon, right?" Off their surprised looks, Johnny continued. "Just because I'm an actor does not mean that I'm either stupid or that I pay attention to my surroundings. My dad once told me that if you can't do something smart, then you damn well better do something right. Most guys would jump at the chance to save Sonya just to get inside her pants. For me, saving your partner wasn't just me being a nice guy. It was just simply the right thing to do."_

_Silence reigned for a long moment, Jax glaring into Johnny's poker face. After a tense minute, Jax simply said, "You're free to go."_

_Sonya blinked. "Wait...what?"_

_"We have no evidence to detain him, Sonya," Jax said, looking at his partner. "His record is clean and he is not lying, from what I can tell."_

_"Jax, he's an actor," Sonya said, pointing her finger at Johnny, who just slipped on his shades. "He could be lying."_

_"Maybe," Jax said. "But like I said...we have no reason to hold him or press charges. He killed Jarek in self-defense, and saved your life." He turned to Johnny. "Your car is in the parking garage. You're free to go...for now. Just so you know, Cage, we will be watching you closely for the time being. If you are working for either the Black Dragon or the Red Dragon, I promise you that you will be seeing the both of us again. Next time, it won't be pleasant."_

_Jax was disappointed when he saw that Johnny was not intimidated. He rose from his seat."Then keep watching, because you and Sonya will be very disappointed." _

_"This isn't over, Cage," said Sonya._

_Johnny stopped in the doorway and turned and faced Sonya. "You wound me, Sonya. Why we can't be friends? If it wasn't for me, you would have left Miami in a body bag."_

_Sonya fumed. "Because from what I've seen, you are the most egotistical, self-deluded person I have ever met."_

_Johnny grinned. "You forgot good-looking. Besides, I was told those were my better qualities. See ya."_

_With that, Johnny left a fuming Sonya and a bemused Jax behind._

[End Flashback]

* * *

Since then, Jax and Sonya had been watching his every move, thinking that Johnny could be a Black Dragon mole. When Johnny decided to head for Europe under mysterious circumstances, Jax ordered Sonya to tail him.

Sonya followed Johnny to an unknown island on the Mediterranean...and was caught by Johnny. Given the fact that his dad was a retired cop, Johnny knew when he was being tailed, and he was also furious as to being followed all the way to Europe, showing that Sonya and Jax did not trust him following his rescue of Sonya. When Sonya demanded an explanation as to why he was here, Johnny had told her that he was researching his family heritage. He found out that his mother's ancestors had settled in America following the Civil War, but his dad's side has proven to be quite the challenge. Johnny claimed that a series of visions had led him here, given to him by someone calling himself 'Raiden.'

Not convinced, Sonya decided to tag along.

The island was home to a massive underground complex, abandoned since the fall of the Roman Empire. It was there, inside the inner sanctum, that Johnny had finally learned the truth. The island was home to a Mediterranean cult whose sole purpose was to bred warriors for the gods. Johnny himself was a direct descendant, which explained his unique 'abilities.' It was also there, aside from finding a series of scrolls, did Sonya and Johnny finally met Raiden for the first time, who explained to the pair that within two years, they would be chosen to fight in Mortal Kombat.

The scrolls that Johnny had found were in scrolls described the fighting style that the Mediterranean cult used in detail, its origins coming from the Far East. The style in question was a lethal style, an assassination style which specializes in rapid-fire hand strikes designed to stab the enemy to death, as well as flying kick techniques.

The style's name was **Aquila Inferus Crux**. Translated, it meant **Eagle of Southern Cross**.

After the little side trip, things had gotten back to normal. However, one day, while in Hong Kong, Johnny was ambushed by a hit squad of assassins from the Lin Kuei. When Johnny had refused to sign on to a crooked Hong Kong film company's project, they hired the Lin Kuei to make an example out of him.

It turned out that it was the other way around. Johnny had killed the hit squad down to the last man, using the new style he had learned. A second hit squad, this time led by Sektor, was dispatched. But before Johnny could defend himself, something unexpected happened. His body felt like it had rebelled against him. The energies he had no problem controlling earlier had erupted from his body, wiping out the Lin Kuei sent to assassinate him. Sektor had narrowly survived the blast and managed to escape. Unfortunately, both Jax and Sonya had witnessed the outburst.

Johnny had managed to keep his violent outbursts under control, but it became even more harder to keep this under wraps. In desperation – and with Jax and Sonya coming along – he consulted both Raiden and the Apache shaman Nightwolf, but despite their best efforts, they could only do so much. Raiden the came up with a solution: to send Johnny to Seido, the Realm of Order.

There, he could be taught to control his power. In an unexpected twist, Sonya, having been ordered by Jax to now shadow the movie star, had accompanied him.

The official reason for Johnny's 'disappearance' was that he was taking a break from acting in order to 'rest and reflect' in a private location. Jax wanted Sonya out of the way because she was starting to get arrogant and complacent in her abilities, which had nearly gotten herself killed. In any case, Sonya needed to learn humility fast, lest she wound up like her father: a casualty on the battlefield.

Johnny and Sonya would spend a year in Seido; the pair having trained with the Seidan Guard and its commander, Hotaru. The training was for lack of a better word, tough. Through Hotaru, not only did Johnny and Sonya had gotten to become even more stronger, but they also got a history lesson about Seido and the surrounding realms.

Seido was a perfect society, the epitome of order. As Hotaru had once said, "There is an order to the universe - laws that all of nature must obey." But as Johnny and Sonya would later find out, Seido's peace had come with a price: personal freedom. Seido valued structure, law and order above anything else. Here, Sonya saw another side to Johnny, as she witnessed several heated debates with Hotaru on law and government.

Quoting Hotaru, personal freedom was not allowed because 'freedom leads to anarchy, anarchy leads to Chaos, Chaos leads to suffering.' Breaking a minor law such as breaking curfew could mean imprisonment for several years. The Seidan Guard were the enforcers of the law, much to the point that in Johnny and Sonya's minds, that they were zealots. Aside from the occasional raid into Chaosrealm in an attempt to take their water supply and the resistance movement led by Darrius, Johnny did achieve personal enlightenment martial arts-wise. Originally, he wanted to prove to the world that he was not a fake. Now, he was fighting for what he believed in, and still had the mouth and ego to match. In Sonya's case, she had gotten stronger, and learned that accepting help from ones' allies is not a bad thing.

The Seidan combat style used by the Seidan Guards consisted of hand-to-hand combat and weapons combat, weapons being swords, knives, combat batons and spears. The Seidan Guard not only fought alone, but were even more effective while fighting in pairs.

It was also during this time, that Sonya had gotten to know Johnny a lot better, and vice versa. Behind the shades, Sonya saw a humanitarian. Despite his cocky attitude and shallowness, there was a kind heart. For Johnny, he saw Sonya as a goal-driven officer who wants nothing but to be the best at what she does. That, and she did not like to fail. In time, Sonya and Johnny had developed a friendship, as well as mutual respect for one another.

Upon returning to Earthrealm, Johnny went back into acting. He had skipped over a martial arts film for something that no one was expecting: a supernatural thriller based on the Japanese urban legend **Kuchisake-Onna (Slit-Mouthed Woman)**, of which he produced, with Johnny himself in the main role as an American businessman who was visiting his half-Japanese daughter in Osaka, only to end up rescuing her from the eponymous villain.

The movie had no martial arts in it...and it went on to become a huge success.

In the interviews which followed the success of his comeback film, Johnny explained that during his time off from he camera, he had said that he had time to think about what he wanted in his career as a film star and producer. He did not want to be known as 'that one guy who did nothing but martial arts films,' but instead, wanted to be remembered as one of the best actors to ever grace the screen. Of course, he would continue to do martial arts movies, but he would branch out, doing more thriller and drama roles.

His most recent movie was a biopic, called 'Imi,' which he produced. The movie was based on the life of Imre 'Imi' Lichtenfeld, the Hungarian-Israeli martial artist who developed Krav Maga, with Johnny in the title role. He also served as producer and director. As he had already learned the Israeli style of self-defense and was certified to teach it following 'Sudden Violence,' he had an intimate knowledge of the style. It also showed a different side of Johnny: he was a method actor.

The movie itself won rave reviews, the film critics, who usually despised Johnny's movies, calls his portrayal of Lichtenfeld 'a staggering, powerful performance.' Upon screening the film in Jerusalem, the moviegoers had carried Johnny on their shoulders, carrying him out of the theater, cheering the movie star. Even Krav Maga International praised his performance and the movie for its realistic portrayal of the fighting style and its founder. Most surprisingly was that both Sonya and Jax liked the movie as well. Sonya had gained an interest in the style and began to learn from Johnny, already rounding out her Taekwondo.

In Sonya's case, upon returning to Earth, she became more open to providing help, and gained a reputation for settling disputes among the younger officers and the enlisted personnel. Her fighting abilities had also drastically improved, much to Jax's approval. Once again, she began to climb the ranks, and was on the fast track to being promoted to Captain.

"Come on, Johnny!" Sonya fumed. "Fight back!"

"Suit yourself," Johnny replied as he shifted stances.

"Shit," Sonya muttered.

Sonya would come to regret those words, as it was she who was put on the offensive, by Johnny, who began to use the Inferus Crux style. The first knife-edge strike had sliced off her headband. The second strike took off a strand of her hair. Blocking was out of the question, as Sonya had seen the kind of damage that the style had done, as the style consists mostly of stabbing techniques. She watched as Johnny had destroyed a training dummy with such strikes. Had that been on a actual human, then that would have been lethal.

"Ahem."

Johnny stopped in mid-strike, and turned to the source of the interruption. Raiden had appeared,

"Most impressive, Cage," the thunder god complimented. "You too as well, Sonya."

"Thanks, Raiden," replied Johnny, while Sonya patted herself down with a towel. "So what brings you to my humble home away from home?"

"Checking on the both of you. I have quite the investment in the both of you."

Johnny caught the bottle of water from Sonya. "I thought you had all your hopes on Liu."

"True that Liu Kang is my chosen champion, but each of you have a role to play. Need I remind the both of you that the stakes cannot be so high."

"We know what to do, Lord Raiden," said Sonya. "When is the tournament?"

"Three days' time. The boat to Shang Tsung's Island will leave Hong Kong at sunset. Pier No.40." Raiden then produced two scrolls and handed them to the movie star and the blond military officer. "Your invitations to the tournament. It's up to you three to make sure that Earthrealm survives this tournament." With that Raiden vanished in a bolt of lightning.

Sonya looked at the scroll. Then she looked at Johnny. "Sometimes, I wonder what I have gotten myself into when it comes to dealing with you," she said.

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "Look at it this way. At least your life is not boring with me around. Plus, you got to travel."

"I think I was better off back in Seido," Sonya mused as she watched Johnny approach a training dummy. She watched as Johnny cocked his head to the side, right before performing the signature attack of the Southern Cross style.

The attack was translated as the 'Assault of the Thousand Torn Dragons,' to which Johnny shortened the name to 'Thousand Torn Dragons.' The attack consisted of Johnny striking the training dummy so fast that Sonya could not catch his movements.

The final strike had sent the training dummy flying to the far side of the room. Johnny looked at the results and nodded in approval of his handiwork. Sonya looked at the dummy and shuddered at the poor bastard who would be on the receiving end of that attack.

She had to admit even to herself, that she was glad that she was on Johnny's good side. For all his showboating and ego, Johnny Cage was a deadly fighter. The fact that he had a bodycount consisting of dead Black Dragon and dead Lin Kuei could attest to that.

* * *

Nightwolf's Camp - South Dakota Badlands, the following morning.

Kenshiro was performing a meditation kata. His jacket was resting on a large stone, leaving him naked from the waist up. After talking with Nightwolf and getting some more details as to what he was up against, Kenshiro was troubled. The memories of his encounter with Delia were strong in his mind, but following his trip through the portal which had brought him here, the memories of what was to come had become scrambled.

One such memory came back to him, involving Nightwolf. The bodies of fallen warriors. Nightwolf and a white-haired woman locked in kombat. The woman had Nightwolf helpless and was in the process of stealing his soul.

_"Victory is mine, shaman!"_

_"Not if...I take it from you!"_

Those were his last words, as both he and the mystery woman were enveloped in a white light, Nightwolf having used a forbidden spell to kill both the woman and himself.

The vision faded, all the while Kenshiro continued to perform his kata. The kata was one that his brother Raoh had taught him. Ironic as it was by Raoh teaching him Kung Fu that he would find himself in the race to becoming the 64th successor of Hokuto Shinken.

Kenshiro finished the kata, eyes closed, hands at his sides.

"An interesting style," Nightwolf said, having watched Kenshiro perform his kata. Kiva was at his side. "Nothing that I have not seen before."

Kenshiro turned around. "My style is an assassin's style."

"And yet, you are not an assassin."

"True, but I have spilled the blood of those who preyed upon the weak. My style is called Hokuto Shinken. Translated, it means Divine Fist of the North Star. My style is so feared, that it can only be passed down from teacher to a single student. I am the sixty-fourth successor in a style which has lasted for over two thousand years. Out of four brothers, I was chosen."

"Just how deadly is your art?" Nightwolf asked.

"Long story short, the human body has 708 **Keiraku Hikō**, also known as tsubo or pressure points. Hokuto Shinken works by manipulating those pressure points to destroy the body from within. That is the primary purpose of Hokuto Shinken, but it can also be used to heal."

"Must be a powerful style for the Elder Gods to choose you as their champion," Nightwolf noted.

Kenshiro nodded. Then he frowned. "It looks like you are going to get a demonstration," he said, looking past Nightwolf's shoulder.

Nightwolf spun around. Ten men stood behind the shaman and the Hokuto successor. They were masked, and carrying various bladed weapons. The shaman looked at the small insignia on their tunics: a stylish dragon's claw superimposed over a triangle, encased in a circle.

"Lin Kuei," Nightwolf muttered, while Kiva growled. A pair of green tomahawks materialized in the shaman's hands. "A group of assassins and mercenaries based in China. Haokah suspected that Shang Tsung has retained their services."

"It appears that the thunder god was right," Kenshiro mused. He placed one hand on Nightwolf's shoulder. "I'll handle this." When it looked like that Nightwolf was going to object, Kenshiro added, "I owe you for both the meal and your kindness. Stand back."

Sighing, Nightwolf did as he requested. Both he and Kiva backed away, but kept their eyes on the group of Lin Kuei assassins. With a somewhat bored expression, Kenshiro stepped forward.

One of the assassins decided to speak up. "Either this guy's pretty brave or pretty damn stupid to take us on," he said.

"It doesn't matter. Our target is the shaman, as per to Shang Tsung's request," the second man said, thus confirming Nightwolf's suspicions. "No witnesses. No mercy."

"Ten against one," Kenshiro deadpanned. "You should have brought more men."

"Enough talking!" the senior assassin shouted. "Kill him and the shaman!"

Kenshiro, however, did not give them the chance for them to attack.

**POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. POKE. **

With a bored expression, Kenshiro calmly weaved his way through four of the Lin Kuei assassins, freezing them in place with a single poke to the forehead by way of his index fingers. Before the fifth Lin Kuei could do anything, Kenshiro was standing before him, and just like the others, tapped him in the forehead with his right index finger. Only this time, Kenshiro kept it there.

"You think you can stop us with that?" the Lin Kuei assassin taunted. "It will take more than a poke to the head to kill us! We are Lin Kuei!"

"In that case," Kenshiro replied. "Watch your friends."

The four Lin Kuei grabbed at their heads as they began to distort and bulge, the veins pulsing as blood ran out of their noses and ears, right before exploding in a bloody geyser of blood, bone and brains.

"Ancestors above..." Nightwolf whispered, having witnessed the carnage. "Such power..."

"I pressed the tsubo known as Gakuchū," Kenshiro explained, his finger still on the last assassin's forehead. "Your life ends once I remove my finger."

"No! No! Wait! Please don't kill me!"

"You want my forgiveness?" Kenshiro asked. "How many people have you spared when they were begging for their lives?"

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Don't kill me!"

"Not gonna happen," Kenshiro said as he removed his finger. "You have five seconds to live," he finished as he turned and walked away.

Sure enough, five seconds later, the final Lin Kuei's head exploded, its body collapsing into a heap on the ground.

To say that Nightwolf was shocked was clearly an understatement. Kenshiro had said that Hokuto Shinken was a style of assassination. The bodies of the five dead Lin Kuei had proven that little face.

"What you have seen was just a sample of Hokuto Shinken," Kenshiro said once he returned to Nightwolf.

Nightwolf dumbly nodded. "Now I see why the Elder Gods have chosen you as their champion. A mere touch can kill one's enemies. Are you certain that you are not an assassin?"

Kenshiro's lips twitched into a rare smile. "No. I am not an assassin. Of that I can assure you. We should leave before more of them show up."

"You're right. There could be more nearby." Nightwolf began to chant in his native language. Seconds later, a portal appeared.

'Great,' Kenshiro mentally groaned. 'Another portal.'

"This portal will take us to Hong Kong," Nightwolf explained. "There, we will take a boat to Shang Tsung's island fortress."

Kenshiro nodded. The Savior of the Century's End and the Apache shaman (and one wolf) entered the portal without hesitation, the portal itself blinking out of existence.

Trivia: The J-Alert system is an actual emergency alert system in use in Japan, having been created in the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami that Japan had suffered under. Also, I fleshed out Kenshiro's nightmare some more and added a couple of references from the British film **Threads** to the story. The first meeting between Johnny, Sonya and Jax was inspired by the Scorpion-Jax-Sonya scene from MK Rebirth.


	3. 2: Ken-Oh Has Arrived!

**Chapter Two: Outworld, Beware! Ken-Oh Has Arrived! (Rewrite)**

Snafu's Notes Redux: Originally, I modeled the Seidan style of combat which both Sonya and Johnny being a combination of Nagasu Do and Silat. To me, after checking things out, I've came to the conclusion that since I got the hand-to-hand aspect of the Seidan style, that Silat is not a suitable weapons style. So after looking around online, the Filipino style of Eskrima is a perfect style, as it involves close-quarters weapons combat with kali sticks and most importantly, knives. For both Kenshiro and Raoh, their basic moves are the same as their counterparts in the Arc System Works fighting game. Some of their special moves come from the ASW version, but most of them come from Ken's Rage.

Somewhere in Outworld...

Raoh did not know how long he had been walking.

He was wounded from his battle with Kenshiro inside the ruins of the old Hokuto training field, where he had honed his skills long before the nuclear war which had destroyed the world. Then he watched as Kenshiro was sucked through a strange portal, which was followed by a second portal which had sucked him through.

Upon regaining consciousness, he found himself in a strange new world. Whatever it was, it sure wasn't Earth. The people looked human, but some of the other local denziens he had seen were something that even could not dream of.

Raoh did not know how long he had been walking, but even in his wounded state, he could still fight, judging by the bodies of bandits and Tarkatans left in his wake.

The latest victims of Raoh's carnage were a group of bandits who terrorized the region. Raoh had stumbled upon their stronghold and slaughtered the men, leaving one to suffer the effects of the **Hikkō Shinkesshu (Bloodletting Strike)**, the same one which he used on Rei, leaving the surviving bandit to die in three days' time.

That was three days ago, as the bandit was most likely dead. Raoh was still injured, the loss of blood making him dizzy. Finally, his body betrayed him and he stumbled to one knee, right before falling over, the last thing he had seen before falling into unconsciousness was a river, and a nearby village.

* * *

Li Mei was one of the strongest fighters in the small village of Sun Do. Located near the river, twenty miles from the Wastelands, the village has somewhat thrived under the rule of Shao Kahn. Aside from the occasional visit from Kahn's soldiers, the village was mostly left alone. Li Mei was an Outworlder, but she had distinct Asian features. Pretty, with long dark hair and clear, alert eyes. She dressed simply: a pink-and-purple top with flowing silk pants with Oriental-style designs, and sandals (i.e., her Deadly Alliance uniform).

She also liked to train and meditate outside of the vllage walls, down by the river. She would not be training this day, however, as she found the form of a giant of a white-haired man, armor cracked, bleeding, lying facedown near the river. His weapon was an oversized sai, still in one hand.

'Wonderful,' Li Mei thought darkly. 'Another dead bandit.'

Her line of thought was interrupted when she heard a muffled moan coming from the man, signaling to her that he was still alive.

"Li Mei! Li Mei!"

Li Mei recognized the voice as the elder's son, Sho. "Over here! Help me!"

Sho appeared, with several more of the villagers, thinking that Li Mei was being attacked by bandits. "What in the world...?"

"He's hurt," Li Mei explained. "I found him here."

"You think he is a bandit? Or a deserter from Kahn's army?" Sho asked.

Li Mei shook his head. "I don't think so. He's still alive. Help me carry him inside."

* * *

Three days earlier...

Reiko and his men had came across the ruins of the bandits' compound. Inside were the mangled remains of the bandits. Reiko had been in Kahn's army for many, many years and has seen his share of violence, but whoever did this had taken it to another whole level. The bandits in question were deserters from Kahn's forces, and they had been terrorizing the region for several years. The only reason why it had taken the Emperor so long for him to react was that just recently, a messenger from one of the villages managed to get through a message to Kahn.

'And now, whoever did this just saved the Emperor time and manpower in trying to stop these traitors,' Reiko thought as he kicked a head to the side.

"General Reiko...what kind of madness is this?" one of his lieutenants asked as he inspected one of the bodies. "It looks like they were destroyed from the inside. Could it be a Shokan? Or a Centaur?"

Reiko shook his head. "The species in question use brute strength to destroy their enemies. Whoever is responsible for this...was not them." He smirked. "Whoever did this has some interesting skills."

"General!" a second lieutenant shouted, hauling out a surviving bandit, the latter holding his stomach. "We got a live one here!"

Reiko approached the dying bandit - the unfortunate one who was on the receiving end of the Shinketsushuu - as his subordinate tossed him to the ground. The man was in great pain, Reiko realized and would not live for very long.

Going down to one knee, Reiko grabbed a handful of the bandit's shirt. "What happened here?" he demanded. "Who did this?"

The bandit coughed up blood. "A man...no...a demon...a demon made flesh."

"One man did all of this? Where is he?"

Before the man could reply, his body began to twitch violently as if he was having a seizure. Reiko dropped him as the blood began to erupt from his body. Backing away from the doomed bandit, Reiko watched as the bandit underwent the final effects of the Shinketsushuu. Reiko and his lieutenants watched as the man died in great pain.

Reiko looked at the twitching body of the now-dead bandit. 'Whoever did this is obviously wounded, but highly skilled,' Reiko noted. 'The only villages he can go to are Shunjo, Lei Chen and Sun Do. And it's going to take the better part of a week to inspect all three.' He sighed. 'There are some days in which I hate this job...although wearing the Emperor's helmet is a nice perk.'

"General Reiko, now what do we do?" one of his subordinates asked.

"We continue with our mission. Failure is not an option," Reiko replied. "The target will more than likely head to one of the three villages down south. We have no other options but to check them all for any wounded strangers. After Sun Do is the Wastelands - Tarkatan territory. He would be insane to head there. We'll resupply at the village of Lei Chen, if needs be. We cannot fail."

* * *

Raoh was dreaming.

He was dreaming about past events in his life, from his childhood up until the present. He had dreamt of his childhood in the Shuran Capital, growing up with Toki, Reina and Souga. He dreamed of the civil war which had forced his parents to send him, Toki and a infant Kenshiro to Japan, where they would be brought up under Ryuken.

_"One day...I will return as the strongest warrior under Heaven! I will return and liberate Shura!"_

He remembered the promise he made Toki make to him as they trained under Ryuken along with Jagi and Kenshiro.

_"Toki...promise me. Promise me that if my ambition threatens those around me, that you will use your fists to stop me. Promise me!"_

_"Raoh...I promise."_

He remembered teaching a younger Kenshiro Kung Fu, which led to him joining the race for the position of successor to Hokuto Shinken.

_"That's enough for today, Kenshiro."_

_"No! I'm not done yet! I have to become stronger!"_

_"Oh? For what reason, little brother?"_

_"I want to be stronger so I can surpass you!"_

_"Surpass...me?"_

_"I overheard you and Toki talking the other day. I am also training in the art of Hokuto Shinken, so you could have came to me! If Toki can't stop your ambition with his fists, then it falls onto me to stop you!"_

_"Kenshiro..."_

He remembered looking across the ruined city following the nuclear war.

_"The Heavens have allowed me to survive...but for what purpose...? Is it to bring order to the land in these troubled times? Is this what my destiny is, not to become the successor to Hokuto Shinken, but to rule? Yes...yes, that's it! I will bring order to the chaos! I will make even the Heavens themselves tremble before my might!"_

He remembered joining forces with Souga and Reina, and launching his campaign to conquer the lands. The first to fall was the Demon King Goram. He spared Gion, the King of Reason, as it was through his machinations that he was able to meet and later acquire Kokougoh and his herd of wild horses. He had taken over the territories of Gaoh, the ruler of Black Steel Castle, Amon, the Dragon Emperor. He made the skulls of Igor the Lion King and Rize the Thunder Emperor into wine glasses.

Then came the confrontation with Kenshiro's friend, Rei.

_"You wish to challenge me? The King of Fists? Fine. I'll indulge you. However...I have a question to ask of you. The Hokuto constellation...have you seen the small red star next to it?"_

_"Yeah, I've seen it. What of it?"_

_"I see...the Heavens smile upon me. It is your destiny to fight me, Rei of Nanto Suichoken, for that star is the Shichōsei - the Death Omen Star. Your fate has been sealed."_

Then came the confrontation with Kenshiro at the Hokuto ruins, which led him here.

* * *

Several days later, in Sun Do...

Raoh found himself staring at the celing of a small room. 'Wonderful. An unknown ceiling,' he thought. He then blinked. 'Where the hell am I? The last thing I remembered was passing out near a village. Before that, I was fighting Kenshiro inside the ruins of the Renkitōza. Then he was sucked through a strange portal. Then I was sucked through a portal, and here I am. Just where is here?'

He assumed a sitting position, and found himself in a makeshift bed. His wounds were clean and dressed. His boots were in a corner of the room, the gauntlets and sai resting on the small table. The place did not look like what he was accustomed to, given the fact that the Earth he was from was reduced to a nuclear wasteland.

"You're awake."

The massive man turned to the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway, holding a tray of food and a jug of water, was Li Mei. She walked in and placed the food at the feet of the bed. Raoh nodded his thanks and began to eat. The food was a lot different than what he was used to back where he had came from, but he didn't complain, as he felt his energy being restored.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"My home village, Sun Do," was the reply. "I found you by the river. You were hurt pretty badly. You were out for several days. We tried to salvage your armor, but that was far too damaged even for our metal workers to repair."

"Sun Do...never heard of that town," Raoh said as he took a long pull from the jug of water. "The last thing I remember...I was fighting my brother in the ruins of the Hokuto training field. Then, he was sucked through a strange portal, while I was brought through another portal."

"You must be from Earthrealm then," said the young warrior. "You are in Outworld...and a long way from home."

Raoh finished off the food and water and rose from the bed. Li Mei found herself staring at a man as tall as the Konqueror himself. "You need not fear me, child," the massive man said.

"I fear no one. And I'm not a child."

Raoh chuckled as retrieved his boots and slipped them on. This girl had spirit. "What is your name?" he asked as he retrieved his shirt and slipped that on, covering his bandages.

"My name is Li Mei."

"Li Mei...where I am from, that name means 'beautiful plum blossom.' So it was you who took care of me?"

Li Mei nodded. "Everyone else was too scared of you."

Raoh was many things. He was the one who had killed Ryuken, and was known as Ken-Oh (King of Fists). He also had his own title to counter that of Kenshiro's Savior of Century's End: The Supreme Ruler of Century's End, and to those who hated him, The Ruthless Conqueror. But even a warlord as ruthless as him understood the concept of kindness. Yuria was the first to show it to him. Li Mei was the second.

"To those who fear me, I am known as Ken-oh," Raoh introduced himself. "But my given name is Raoh." Raoh looked at the girl, who returned the gaze with one of her own. "You have a warrior's spirit within you," he noted.

"That's because I am one," Li Mei replied. "Are you a bandit or a deserter from Kahn's army?"

"Neither," Raoh replied. Seeing as how Li Mei was trustworthy, he began to tell his story.

[Here, as with Kenshiro, we go into another series of flashbacks. This time, they detail Raoh's rise to power. We see a younger Raoh and Toki with a baby Kenshiro in Shura no Kuni (Land of Shura).]

RAOH (voice-over): I am the eldest of four adopted brothers. My home is indeed from Earth, in a land called Shura, where the men are bred solely for combat. I left my home, and found myself in Japan, where I began my training in Hokuto Shinken.

LI MEI (voice-over): Hokuto Shinken?

[Next series of scenes are that of Raoh training alongside Toki, Jagi and Kenshiro inside the Hokuto Renkitōza. A young Yuria watches as Ryuken trains the boys.]

RAOH (voice-over): The strongest of the Ansatsuken styles. A style that is said to have been created by the gods themselves over 2,000 years ago. A style so deadly that it can only have one successor. My brother Toki was the best candidate to become the successor, but was forced to withdraw because of his illness. Jagi...he was Jagi. It came down to myself and my youngest brother, Kenshiro.

[We see Ryuken unleash a tiger upon Raoh and Kenshiro. Kenshiro shows compassion towards the tiger. Raoh kills it.]

RAOH (voice-over): My youngest brother, Kenshiro was named successor. Several days later...our world ended.

[We see another montage of the nuclear war - this time, it's from the 1986 movie in all its brutal glory.]

RAOH (voice-over): Man turned their weapons on each other. Weapons that can wipe out entire cities. Civilization was destroyed. But mankind refused to die. We survived.

LI MEI (voice-over): Your world sounds terrifying.

[Now we see Raoh confront Ryuken, which ends in Raoh killing his master.]

RAOH: (voice-over) For those who are not chosen to become the successor of Hokuto Shinken, either they must voluntarily renounce the style or face the risk of having their fists destroyed or their memories erased. In the aftermath of the Great War, I confronted my master.

LI MEI: (voice-over) You killed him.

RAOH: (voice-over) Yes. At first, I thought that it was necessary. But he was the closest thing to a father that I had. With civilization gone and the governments of the world now a memory, the strong preyed upon the weak. Warlords and bandits rose from the ashes. I was one of them.

[Now we see Raoh - as Ken-Oh, in full combat gear and helmet - on horseback, leading his army. He is then seen fighting alongside his lieutenants, Reina and Souga. The clips are from Ten no Haoh and Raoh Gaiden.]

RAOH (voice-over): I soon gained an ambition. An ambition so great that even the heavens would tremble before my might. To unite the lands under my rule. I became Ken-Oh the Conqueror. Despite my methods, I was one of the more humane warlords vying for control of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. By that time, my brothers and I have gone our seperate ways. Jagi became a bandit...Toki decided to use his skills to heal...and Kenshiro was hell-bent on seeking vengeance.

[Now we see clips of Raoh vs Toki.]

RAOH (voice-over): As much as I hate to admit it, Toki was stronger than me. Had it not been for his illness, then he would have been the successor. Out of respect for him, I spared his life and allowed him to live out the rest of his days in peace. But my biggest challenge came from my brother, Kenshiro. In the end, ruling the land did not matter. All I cared about was to defeat him in combat.

[Now we see the final confrontation between Kenshiro and Raoh.]

KENSHIRO: Hokuto Renkitōza...I should have known that you would choose this place.

RAOH: Given the fact that I plan to bury you and the history of Hokuto Shinken here, I found this place to be fitting for the task.

KENSHIRO: This land will never be yours, brother. Your ambition ends here.

RAOH: Hmph. Do you think I care about the land? The only thing I ever wanted was to defeat you. I, Raoh, the King of Fists, will cement my legacy by defeating the successor of Hokuto Shinken. Only then will I begin a new history - one of true strength!

[Kenshiro and Raoh fight. Then Kenshiro is sucked through a portal. Seconds later, Raoh is sucked through a second portal.]

RAOH (voice-over): The fight would have been one for the ages, had it not been for Kenshiro being sucked through a strange portal.

[The flashback ends here.]

"Seconds later, I was drawn through a second portal and found myself here in Outworld," Raoh said, finishing his tale.

"If you plan on leaving, then you would not go further south, as those are the Wastelands," Li Mei warned. "That is Tarkartan territory. Very dangerous. If you head east, then you will head into Centaur territory. Your best chance is to head northwest, to the Outworld Capital. There's two other villages in that direction. You could find a guide that can take you there."

Raoh nodded. "I will heed your advice. You have my thanks."

Li Mei nodded. But before she could reply, screams were heard from outside. Seconds later, Sho came running into the room. "Li Mei! Bandits! From the Wastelands!"

Without another word, Li Mei rushed out of the room. Outside, the dying began as the bandits began to overwhelm the village's militia. Raoh growled. 'Bandits. I hate bandits,' he thought darkly. 'Been a while since I mete out some much-deserved justice. It's time to put Outworld on notice. Ken-Oh has arrived.'

* * *

The village of Sun Do found itself under attack by a massive group of bandits, fifty strong. Normally, with Sun Do being as close to the Wastelands, they would not dare to attack the village. But with the village's location and that it would take Kahn's forces a week to arrive from the Outworld Capital, the bandits were feeling rather brave that day.

The leader of the bandits was a man named Xian. A former member of the Seidan Guard centuries earlier, Xian had deserted and had fled to Outworld after killing his commanding officer. There, after living in the wastelands for many years, robbing and pillaging at will, he had taken over a group of bandits for himself, having killed the bandits' previous leader. For the past several years, Xian had attacked several villages, killing couriers with messages for aid, thus keeping Shao Kahn in the dark about the outlying villages.

Xian was a hulking mountain of a man, standing well over six feet tall, but was not as tall as Raoh. The head was shaven, save for a beard. His throat had a scar running form ear to ear, showing that he had survived a failed assassination attempt. Seido had a huge bounty on his head. His armor was that of the Seidan Guard, save that it was now red-and-black. A spear was slung over one shoulder, while a Seidan broadsword was strapped to his side.

Several of the smaller villages had already capitulated to Xian, paying him 'tribute' in exchange for him not burning their homes to the ground. Some of the villages who refused to be bullied had their villages destroyed, the men and children killed, the women ravaged and sold into slavery.

Now, Xian and his bandits had the village of Sun Do in their sights. They had already killed the village elders and was now holding one of the village's women - around Li Mei's age - hostage. "Listen up! In tribute to me, Lord Xian, you will surrender three-quarters of your food and water to me! Refuse, and I will burn this village to the ground!"

"Are you nuts?!" one of the male villagers shouted back. "The Emperor will hear of this!"

That remark earned him a knife to the heart. He was dead before he had hit the ground.

"This village will either pay me my tribute," Xian threatened, "or I will burn Sun Do to the ground, put all of the men and children to the sword, and take all of your women! And I will start with her!" With that, he slit the throat of his hostage, killing her.

Li Mei stood among the village defenders of the town, holding the mother of the slain woman back as the latter broke down in hysterics.

"It appears that I will pay you back for your kindness after all," Raoh grumbled to Li Mei as the villagers parted for the giant of a man. Aside from bandits, Raoh had a hatred for rapists. He was no saint by any means, but forcing oneself on a woman was the lowest of lows. Rapists did not have a place in his forces, a rule he personally enforced. That, or he would let his oversized horse stomp on the offending party.

Standing in front of the villagers, Raoh gave Xian his ultimatum. "This is your only warning," he intoned as his **Tōki no Aura (Fighting Spirit Aura)** began to seep from his body, blood-red in color. "Leave this town and the people alone, and that will be the end of it...refuse, and you will feel the wrath of my fists." His steel-gray eyes burned a hole into Xian's own. "And I will make sure to kill you last."

Xian's comrades guffawed at Raoh's demand.

One of Xian's men - armed with a spear - walked up to Raoh, never mind the fact that he was literally a head shorter than the King of Fists himself. "Looky here, boys! We got ourselves a honest-to-God hero in our midst!" He brandished the spear. "There's twenty of us and one of you. What makes you think you have a chance against us?"

Raoh looked at the man. Then he casually backhanded him.

The villagers and the bandits saw something fly off of the bandit.

When it came to a stop, Xian, the bandits, and the villagers - Li Mei included - realized that the object in question was the bandit's **head**.

Blood sprayed from the stump before Raoh shoved the body to the ground.

Xian was enraged. "Kill him and string his body up for all to see!" he bellowed.

The bandits brandished their weapons and charged, Xian remaining behind.

Raoh cracked his neck muscles and rotated one shoulder. "Don't say that I did not warn you," he deadpanned as the men charged, ready to impale the eldest of the Hokuto brothers. "Where I am from, I go by another name," Raoh said as he began to gather energy into both his hands. "That name...is Ken-oh - the King of the Fists. Remember it well, for I am the harbinger of your doom."

With those words, Raoh unleashed hell. "**Hokuto Gōshō Ha! (North Star Iron Palm Wave)**"

The double blast of concentrated tōki smashed into the attacking horde, decimating them to the point that the energy being so hot that it burned twenty of the men down to the bone. Those who were far away managed to avoid the blast and quickly got back to their feet. Now, thirty remained.

Twenty of them charged in, weapons drawn. As the village streets were narrow, being only about the size of a two-lane street, they hardly had enough room to outflank him. Raoh looked amused. "You are no match for the power of my fists," he said as he stretched his hands high into the air. Seven pillars of crimson energy emerged in front of Raoh, taking the shape of the Big Dipper.

"**Shichisei Tenshi! (Seven Star Point Heart)**" Raoh bellowed, charging forward, ramming his way through the crammed mass of bandits, leaving nothing but broken and dead bodies in his wake.

The Seven Star Point Heart was the same technique in which Ryuken attempted to kill Raoh with following the nuclear war in which Raoh had rebelled against his decision in declaring Kenshiro his successor to Hokuto Shinken. To Raoh, it was an effective technique whenever he was not on horseback.

Now, only ten bandits remained, Xian included.

"Flank him!" one of the senior bandits shouted. "Flank him and take him down!"

"Eight against one," Raoh drawled. "You should have brought more men, Xian. Come...come and die."

The remaining bandits charged. Raoh decided to simply crush them with his bare hands instead of using his Touki. Had he had Kokuougou, he would simply crush the offenders under his massive horse. One of the bandits was also armed with a spear and tried to impale Raoh with it. One knife-hand chop from Raoh broke the spear in two, which was followed by Raoh giving the bandit a broken neck for the effort.

'Scratch one.'

One of the bandits who avoided getting burned alive by the Hokuto Gōshō Ha tried to attack Raoh from behind as he continued his advance. Raoh backhanded him, not giving him a single glance. His head exploded seconds later.

'Scratch two.'

A sword-wielding bandit charged in, hoping to avenge his comrades. Raoh's massive hand caught the man's sword arm and twisted it to the side. A sickening crack was heard as the arm's bone snapped, bending in an unnatural angle. Before the man could scream, Raoh's fist caved the man's chest in, destroying the sternum and stopping his heart.

Two more sword-wielding goons tried their luck against the massive man, but that ended when Raoh grabbed them and cracked both their skulls together, obliterating them. Another goon, this one armed with a Outworld labris (a double-headed battleaxe used in Crete), tried his luck next. He got a punch to the chest which broke half of his ribs, which was followed by a powerful spinning back kick (i.e., Musou Insatsu) which knocked his head off as well.

'Six down.'

The senior bandit who had ordered the others to flank Raoh was the next to die from a boot to the head which had caved in his skull, Raoh yanking off the cape he wore as the senior bandit fell to the ground.

"Predictable," Raoh muttered as he watched the last of the bandits leap into the air, hoping to take his head off with a naginata. Raoh flung the cape into the air, the dark cloak enveloping the bandit with it, obscuring his vision. The bandit then screamed as he felt himself being impaled by a single finger, Raoh striking him in the pressure point in the same fashion as he had done to Rei. Only this time, there would be no three-day delay. This bandit would die a most painful death.

Raoh raised the screaming bandit above his head, his gaze not leaving that of Xian, who looked petrified as he watched Raoh crush his bandits as if they were nothing. The cloak soon unraveled, revealing the bandit, impaled on Raoh's finger. "I told you that if you did not leave, that I was going to not only kill your men, but I will kill you last," he said, tossing the final bandit to the side. "And I always keep my word."

Xian responded by pulling out a second broadsword. "You think you can stop me?!"

"I don't think," replied Raoh. "I know I can."

Raoh shifted his body to avoid the wild swing from Xian's attack. Then Raoh responded with a quick shoulder tackle, stunning Xian and causing him to drop his broadswords.

With Xian stunned, Raoh quickly retrieved his sai and jammed it into Xian's right foot, pinning him to the ground, the blade tearing through flesh and shattering the bones in his foot. Blood sprayed out from the wound as Xian screamed in pain. Raoh was not finished. Cocking one massive fist back, Raoh punched Xian full in the face. Hard. But that was just the beginning. Raoh unleashed a barrage of punches, his hands appearing to have multiplied into hundreds of fists, the blows impacting all over the upper half of Xian's body. Raoh then finished the attack with a massive boot to the chest, knocking Xian off of his sai and sent the now-dead bandit leader flying, nearly every single bone above his pelvis broken.

Xian died a painful death.

Raoh retrieved his sai from the ground. Behind him, Li Mei and the other villagers were in shock as to what had happened. Raoh had just wiped out fifty bandits, all of them who were armed to the teeth.

"Impressive, warrior."

Raoh turned around. Reiko stood there, flanked by his squad, the Outworld general and his men having witnessed the one-sided battle. "Most impressive," Reiko complimented. He raised his hands as he watched Raoh go into a defensive stance while his men drew their weapons. "Easy, friend. I come in peace."

Raoh relaxed his stance, but kept his guard. "Who are you?"

"I am Reiko," Reiko introduced himself, signaling for his men to stand down. "One of many who serve the Konqueror, Shao Kahn. The Emperor has sent me to look for you. He requests your presence at his palace."

"Your Emperor...was he the one who summoned me here?"

Reiko nodded.

Raoh weighed his options. Whoever this Konqueror was, he had a lot to answer for, taking him from his home and bringing him here. That, and if he did not like what this Shao Kahn was telling him, then he would have no problem in showing Kahn what his spine looked like if he did not like what Kahn had to say.

Raoh gave Reiko his answer. "Fine. I'll come with you."

Reiko nodded in thanks. Sure he was a brutal general working for The Konqueror, but sometimes, one can trap more flies with honey.

Raoh turned to the villagers and walked over to Li Mei. "You have done me a great service, Li Mei. I...will not forget this act of kindness," he said, placing one hand on her shoulder. "There is good in you. Do not let it get taken from you."

With those words, Raoh joined Reiko and his soldiers and walked out of the village. By the time Raoh found himself before Shao Kahn, the tournament would already be over.

**Hokuto Gōshō Ha (****剛掌波 ****North Star Iron Palm Wave).** Raoh's signature technique. Allows Raoh to fire off energy projectiles using his aura.

**Shichisei Tenshi (****七星点心 ****Seven Star Point Heart).** Seven pillars of Raoh's energy emerge in front of him, shaped like the Big Dipper. He then charges forward, knocking down anyone in his path.

**Hikkō Shinkesshu (**新血愁**Bloodletting Strike). ** Also known as Hikkō Shinketsushū. Raoh impales one massive finger inside the opponent's chest, causing them to hemorrhage all of their blood for three agonizing days, or if he is feeling merciful, grant them a quick and painful death.

**OMAKE!**

**HOKUTO KOMBAT BIO: RAOH**

**Aliases:** Ken-Oh (King of Fists), Seikimatsu Hasha (Supreme Ruler of Century's End), The Ruthless Conqueror

**Date of Birth:** Unknown - all records were destroyed in the nuclear war

**Place of Birth:** Shura no Kuni (Land of Shura)

**Height:** 6'11"

**Weight:** 320 pounds

**Hair:** White

**Eyes:** Blue

**Family:** Ryuken (Ramon Kasumi), adoptive father and sifu – deceased; Kenshiro, younger adopted brother; Toki, younger brother – deceased; Jagi, younger adopted brother – deceased; Kenshiro Kasumi, uncle - deceased

**Primary Costume:** Ken's Rage default costume, sans cape and helmet

**Secondary Costume:** Raoh Den costume, sans cape and helmet

**Bonus Costume A:** Ten no Haoh costume (shirtless with the single shoulder pad, pants and boots)

**Bonus Costume B:** Kaioh's armor from Ken's Rage 2

**Fighting Style:** Hokuto Shinken and Gō no Ken

**Stage:** Ruins of Hokuto Renkitōza – Nighttime (Souga and Reina watch in the background)

**Pre-Fight Intro:** Raoh approaches the opponent, cape draped over his shoulders. He flings it off and goes into his stance

**Occupation:** Warlord

**X-Ray – Ken-Oh's Wrath:** Raoh shoulder tackles the opponent, knocking them back. As they are stunned, he pins their foot to the ground with his oversized sai (the same one he uses on Toki), ripping the muscles and breaking the bone. He then follows with the **Hokuto Raretsuken (North Star Destructive Fist)**, punching them repeatedly – and breaking the bones in their torso, arms and head – before kicking them away.

**Fatality 1 – Equine Fury:** Raoh kicks the opponent to the ground and hops off-screen. Seconds later, he reappears on his massive stallion, Kokuougou, riding full-tilt at the fallen opponent, trampling them in the process (think the Stage Kill on the Street).

**Fatality 2 – Hikkō Shinkesshu (Bloodletting Strike)**: Raoh impales the opponent with a single finger (like he did to Rei), and lifts them off the ground. He then flings them to the ground as they die a most painful death.

**Babality: **Baby Raoh – wearing a Viking helmet – is seen riding on a Saint Bernard-sized foal, who is obviously Kokougou. Even as a baby Raoh is badass.

Ken-Oh. The Ruthless Conqueror. The Supreme Ruler of Century's End. Whatever title he goes by, Raoh's ruthlessness is matched by his ambition. The eldest of four brothers who trained under Ryuken, Raoh had lost the battle of succession to his youngest brother, Kenshiro. Following the tradition of those who had failed to become successor to Hokuto Shinken, Ryuken attempted to seal Raoh's fists. Raoh, however, killed his master. In the aftermath of the nuclear war, Raoh became a warlord, taking the name Ken-Oh, and began a path of conquest, to unite the post-apocalyptic lands under his rule. Kenshiro, however stood in his way. During their final battle inside the ruins of the Hokuto Renkitōza, he watched as Kenshiro was sucked through a mysterious portal. Seconds later, Raoh found himself being pulled into a portal of his own, and flung through time and space. What he does not know is that once again, he and Kenshiro will find themselves on opposite sides, with the fate of Earthrealm in the balance.


	4. 3: The Tournament Begins!

**Chapter Three: The Tournament Begins! Kenshiro, Prepare Yourself! **

Snafu's Notes: Here is where the fun begins. Kenshiro arrives at Shang Tsung's Island with Raiden and the others.

En route to Shang Tsung's Island...

It was nearly eight in the evening as the Chinese junk rig made its way across the South China Sea. Kenshiro had kept to himself for the duration of the trip to Shang Tsung's Island, lost in his thoughts. Nightwolf, wisely had left him alone.

The Apache shaman had filled in the blanks left by Delia. Through Nightwolf, Kenshiro knew who to look out for, the movers and shakers, those who were Raiden's chosen. Kenshiro had a lot to think about on the trip over on the boat. He stood at the ship's bow, hunched over, looking out into the sea.

Kenshiro has his eye on three specific martial artists. According to Nightwolf, these three were Raiden's chosen warriors, but only one of them was destined to win the tournament. The American action star...the blond military officer...and the Shaolin Monk. They had boarded the rig the same time as he did, but he had kept to himself.

'A tournament,' Kenshiro thought. 'The tournament. One which is held once a generation.'

The last time he was at a tournament, it was long before the nuclear war. The tournament was between the Nanto and Hokuto schools. A rising star in the art of Hokuto Shinken, Kenshiro had went through the tournament while Raoh and Souther watched. Then Kenshiro fought Shuu and was promptly defeated. To save his life, Shuu had sacrificed his own eyesight, blinding himself. Kenshiro had never forgotten that, as it had left a lasting impression on him.

Despite not winning the tournament, Raoh, Toki and Ryuken were impressed with Kenshiro's growth.

Kenshiro looked up at the night sky. It was clear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of Yuria. He remembered that day that the picture was taken. The picture was taken shortly after Kenshiro was named successor to Hokuto Shinken, on her birthday. One month later, the button was pushed and the bombs were dropped.

_"You want me to make a wish, Ken?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Okay. I want us to be together until the end of the world."_

Kenshiro sardonically smile as he remembered Yuria's wish. 'The end of the world is coming,' he thought. 'If I fail, that is.'

Behind him, he could hear three people taking. Two men and a woman. Out of the trio, one was Chinese, the other American. He had spotted them while boarding the ship with Nightwolf hours earlier, the American male dressed in a black three-piece suit, white shirt sans necktie, his eyes concealed by the pair of expensive shades he wore. For some strange reason, the man reminded Kenshiro of Shin. The blond woman standing beside him was military. She was clad in a black leather vest, skin-tight green pants pants and boots. Again, for some reason, she reminded Kenshiro of Mamiya, the warrior woman who had taken a liking to Rei. Traveling bags were at their feet. Last, was the Chinese man. He was clad in a Chinese-style shirt, which was black and black-and-red pants. From the corner of his eye, Kenshiro watched as the three began to talk with one another, showing that they knew each other.

Just then, another vision had came to him. The vision was that of the Chinese man dying - albeit accidentally - at the hands of Raiden, following the former losing faith in the latter.

_"Liu Kang! Please forgive me..."_

_"You...have killed us...all..."_

Kenshiro shook his head of the vision and continued to stare out to the horizon. As he stared out into the open sea, he was forming a plan. A plan to counter not only Kahn's schemes, but to also counter the bad decisions in which Raiden will make once his future self pass on the visions of Armageddon to his past self.

Liu Kang was a descendant of the Great Kung Lao. Born in China's Hunan Province, he was orphaned at a young age when his parents had died under unusual circumstances. Both he and his brother, Chow were then raised by the Shaolin monks. While Liu settled into the life of a monk, Chan had ran away from the temple, and was never heard from again. The Shaolin saw the potential that Liu had and began to train him for the final Mortal Kombat tournament. Raiden also saw the potential that Liu had and took him under his wing, even going as far as to taking him to Outworld to learn under the legendary master Bo' Rai Cho.

The wiry Chinese martial artist greeted Sonya and Johnny. A year following Sonya and Johnny's return to Seido, Raiden had taken them both to the Shaolin Temple where both Liu and Kung Lao had trained, in order for the both of them to test their skills. It had been a two-on-two battle, but in the end, both Sonya and Johnny had lost, Johnny not using the Southern Cross style at Raiden's request, as he did not want Johnny to kill him by accident.

In the end, the trio became fast friends. Johnny jokingly called themselves 'The Heroic Trio.'

"Liu," Johnny greeted.

The fighting monk greeted the pair with a nod of the head. "Johnny. Sonya. Glad you two decided to come."

"So...this is it?" Sonya asked, looking around at the other fighters. "A handful of people on a leaky boat are going to save the world?"

"Not a handful, Sonya," Johnny reminded, pointing at Liu. "Just him. Remember Liu here is the Chosen One. He's Raiden's golden boy, the point man, the star of the show. We're just the supporting cast assigned to make sure he gets the job done."

Liu smiled wryly. He was used to Johnny's sense of humor, as was Sonya. Johnny had an ego the size of the Great Wall despite his side trip to Seido, but Liu saw that he meant well. "Good to see you have faith in me." He then turned to the solitary man dressed in leather standing at the bow, looking out on the horizon. "You noticed the newcomer?" he asked.

Johnny and Sonya followed Liu's gaze. "You mean the guy dressed up like a post-apocalyptic biker?" the star replied. "Kinda hard to miss. What about him?"

"What do you think?" Liu asked. "Good guy or bad?"

It took Johnny a second to answer that. "Good guy."

Sonya looked at Johnny. "A good guy? Are you sure?"

"Dressed like that? **Definitely** a good guy."

Kenshiro's enhanced hearing had caught the conversation between the three warriors. His lips twitched into a small grin before going back into his usual stoic expression.

&^%

At the stern of the ship...

"Haokah," Nightwolf greeted as Raiden appeared. "About my visions...they came true."

"Oh?"

"There is a man onboard. A man with seven scars on his chest," the shaman reported. Kiva barked alongside his master.

"Yes...I've seen him accompany you on board the ship. Who is he?"

"His name is Kenshiro, and he is here representing the Elder Gods." Nightwolf kept out the part in regards to Kenshiro's origins and of the nuclear wasteland from where he originated.

Raiden now looked worried. "The Elder Gods sent him? This is strange."

"Maybe they sent him to make sure that Earthrealm wins the tournament."

"You know that Liu Kang is destined to win," Raiden reminded him. "This changes things."

"I trust him, Haokah," Nightwolf defended. "He saved my life when the Lin Kuei sent a hit squad to kill me. I hold my hand to the fire for it."

Raiden sighed. "I hope so, Nightwolf. For your sake." He vanished in a bolt of lightning.

Shang Tsung's Island

Kenshiro had faced many opponents back in his own Earth. Jagi. Shin. Amiba. Devil's Rebirth. The Colonel of the Golan. Souther. But here he was, a stranger in a familiar, yet strange land, tasked by the Elder Gods to fight in a tournament. He had fought in the Kumite as a child, and had lost against Shuu, but this was definitely something he was not accustomed to.

From what he had found out prior to his and the other fighters' arrival from Nightwolf, the island was home to the tournament's host, the shape-shifting sorcerer Shang Tsung, the island itself located between Earth and Outworld on the Lost Sea. Five hundred years ago, Shang Tsung had stolen the tournament from the Shaolin order and corrupted it for his own ends.

Once the ship containing the Earthrealm warriors docked at port, the warriors disembarked. Liu, Sonya and Johnny were the first, accompanied by Raiden. Kenshiro followed soon after.

Kenshiro felt a growing sense of dread creeping in his gut. 'Stars of Hokuto, guide me and keep me strong in my quest,' he thought.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. Turning to his left, he saw Nightwolf, giving him a reassuring smile. Ken nodded, thankful of the new ally he had met.

Turning his head towards the fortress, Kenshiro walked toward his destiny.

(*&

In the shade of a statue near the fortress' main gates, sat the Princess of Outworld.

Princess Kitana was flanked by two of Shang's personal guards, two female servants and her childhood friend, watching as Earthrealm's warriors filed past her, her expression was that of complete boredom. She was here at her father's request, to make sure that Shang did not try anything funny, not when he was so close to absolute victory. Skarlet was shadowing Quan Chi, and here she was, watching Shang's every move. At the moment, she sat in the shadow of the massive statue, sizing up the competition.

She was ten thousand years old, yet Kitana looked like she was in her mid-to-late twenties. Exotic, mysterious with the body of a ballet dancer, she was a perfect beauty, with long dark hair tied back into a single ponytail, dark eyes alert, her perfectly proportioned body was covered with an dark blue Outworld-style cheongsam dress. She was not only the Princess of Outworld, but also Shao Kahn's chief assassin, having been trained since childhood by the best martial artists that Kahn had to offer. Shang Tsung was also one of her teachers, but she held the sorcerer in disdain.

Jade stood behind and to the side of Kitana. Like Kitana, she was around the same age. The pair had came up together, having been trained under the same teachers. Also a beauty like her princess and longtime friend, with caramel-colored skin and clad in jade-green silks, hence her name. She was also the closest thing that Kitana had as a sister, which made her secret mission from Shao Kahn even more painful: should Kitana show signs of defecting from his side, then she is to be executed without question.

Jade silently prayed that day would not come when she would be forced to choose between betraying her longtime friend or betraying her Emperor.

One fighter caught Kitana's eye: a man dressed in leather with spiky dark hair. He was walking alongside the shaman and his pet wolf. He ignored her and continued to walk forward, so Kitana dismissed him and continued to size up the competition. The second male which caught her gaze, however, returned it. Kitana sized him up: Chinese, obviously, with dark hair, a red headband tied around his forehead, clad in Chinese-style clothes.

'So...that is Raiden's chosen champion,' Kitana thought. 'So that is Liu Kang.'

With Liu...

For a minute, Liu and the blue-clad woman locked eyes. Then he felt Johnny nudge him from his side.

"Y'know," Johnny drawled as Sonya came up beside the star, "when a woman looks at you like that, it usually means something."

Sonya rolled her eyes at Johnny's comment. The trio then continued on.

"She...she's beautiful," Liu said as they walked past the gates. "Who was she?"

"I think that was Princess Kitana, Shao Kahn's stepdaughter," Sonya explained. Off Liu's puzzled look, Sonya said, "Johnny and I spent time in Seido, remember? The Seidans have a damn good library."

"Especially when it comes to the histories of the other realms, as well as who is in charge, the movers and shakers, if you will," Johnny added. "Sonya spent most of her time there when we were not training with Master Hotaru. Who'd have thought that Miss Military is quite the little bookworm? Beauty, brains and brawn...my type of woman."

Sonya made a face at the star. "And here, I thought your type of woman was the bulimic ditzy supermodel."

Liu said nothing else as both Johnny and Sonya continued to argue. It was something that they would usually do. They would usually banter back and forth. Raiden would usually watch the two argue with mild amusement, as did Nightwolf.

"Wait...stepdaughter?" Liu repeated.

Johnny nodded. "Yup. Stepdaughter. Long story short, Kahn took over Edenia after they lost 10 tournaments in a row, offed the ruling king and took said king's wife. Oh, and adopted Kitana as his own daughter."

"Queen Sindel, in desperation, committed suicide," Sonya continued, "her body acting as a barrier of sorts to keep Kahn from invading Earthrealm. That and it serves as one giant middle finger to the Emperor. I thought you knew this stuff."

Liu shrugged his shoulders. "Lord Raiden does not tell me everything, you know."

"So much for being Raiden's golden boy," Johnny snorted.

That earned him a punch to the arm by both Liu and Sonya. "Ow."

The Courtyard, nighttime.

Kenshiro stood amongst the contestants, silently observing his surroundings. The tournament was about to begin. He stood on beside Nightwolf, who was standing alongside Raiden and Liu Kang. Sonya and Johnny were beside Liu Kang. He also took notice of three fighters dressed like assassins - the Lin Kuei, from what Nightwolf had told him. Standing several feet from Johnny was a man with chalk-white skin and a ninja in yellow.

Kenshiro heard Raiden gasp and from the corner of his eyes, watched as the thunder god clutch his head. Kenshiro knew what that meant; the Raiden of the Future had passed on the events from here all the way to Armageddon. Events in which this Raiden would come and try to avoid, albeit at a disastrous cost.

"Lord Raiden..." Kenshiro heard Liu speak. "What's wrong?"

Raiden was holding one hand to his head as if to ward off a migraine. "Strange visions..." the thunder god replied.

Liu looked down. "Lord Raiden, your amulet!"

Raiden retrieved the item in question and inspected it. The amulet was of gold and sapphire, with the familiar coiled dragon in the center, and was created by the Elder Gods. Raiden received it as a gift. It would have been an exquisite piece, had it not been for the several cracks which had marred its surface.

"It's nothing," Raiden said as he placed the amulet back on his vest, yet Kenshiro knew by the tone in his voice that he was concerned. "Focus. The tournament begins."

A procession of monks emerged and took their seats in front of the platform. They were followed by Shang Tsung, who was flanked by three women; one in blue, the other in green, the last in red. Kenshiro recognized the first two as Kitana and Jade from his visions, but did not know who the woman in red was. To the left of Shang Tsung, Baraka emerged, catching Kenshiro off-guard. "What kind of madness is this?" he whispered to himself.

"Tarkatan," Nightwolf whispered. "The end result of Outworlders mating with Netherrealmers. Very dangerous. Very tough. And very unpredictable. Tarkatans are born with blades inside their forearms which they can use in combat. According to Raiden, that one is Baraka."

Kenshiro nodded.

Shang Tsung took his place on his throne and began to speak. "Kombatants, I am your host, Shang Tsung. In the coming days, each of you will fight. Some are here of their own volition, others were brought here by chance..."

As Shang continues to speak, Sonya caught sight of her quarry. He was on the far end of the courtyard, watching the opening ceremony. Standing beside her target was a woman - also a redhead. Sonya felt Johnny's firm grip on her forearm, which stopped her from doing anything rash. "Be cool, Blade," Johnny whispered. "Your time will come. Be cool."

Kenshiro also took notice of Sonya's quarry. For some strange reason, the man with the metal faceplate reminded him of Jagi.

"_Hey, Kenshiro! Say my name! I am Lord Jagi! Successor to the school of Hokuto Shinken!"_

"You participate in the most important Mortal Kombat in history," Shang concluded. "This tournament, the tenth after nine Outworld victories, will determine Earthrealm's fate. If you defeat all of your opponents, you will face one final challenge...which is me."

Johnny cocked an eyebrow. "This guy is serious, right?" he whispered to Sonya. "From the look of things, he looks like he could either throw out his back or break a hip if he fights."

"Ahem."

'Crap,' Johnny winced. 'Please tell me he's not behind me.'

Sure enough, upon turning around, Johnny found himself face-to-face with Shang.

"Appearances can be deceiving, Mr. Cage," Shang said in a sage-like tone before hovering back to his throne. "And you will be the first to find out, as you are the first kombatant."

Johnny mentally cursed to himself. Once again, his mouth had gotten himself into trouble. Oh well. He came to fight and to save the world. "Okay, fine," he said as he hopped onto the arena, not bothering to remove his vest and jacket. "Who's my opponent?"

"Your opponent is..." Shang paused for dramatic effect, pointing to the roof on the far end of the arena. "...Reptile!"

Johnny followed Shang's finger and noticed that there was something on the roof. Invisible, but the air surrounding it was distorted.

Then, as it leapt in the air, the invisibility vanished and Reptile emerged in all his glory.

Reptile was one of Shao Kahn's chief assassins. He was Sauran, from the former realm of Zaterra, the realm itself having long since been absorbed by Kahn. The Saurian were descended from dinosaurs, complete with a much larger brain, unlike their ancestors, allowing them the ability for complex thinking. Aside from their obvious talents of invisibility, they had the talent to make their Saurian features look more human in order to blend in.

Originally native to Earthrealm, the Saurian race was forced to relocate following a war between Raiden and the fallen Elder God, Shinnok. For a time, the Saurians had thrived on Zaterra, until Shao Kahn absorbed the realm into Outworld and driven the Saurians to near-extinction. Only a handful of Saurians remained.

Humanoid in appearance, muscular, his body covered in green scales, slitted eyes looking upon the movie star, ready to rip him apart limb from limb.

"Wonderful," Johnny muttered as he went into his stance.

"Fight!" Shang bellowed.

To anyone who did not know him, he showed nothing but confidence. But to Sonya – and Kenshiro – the cockiness and swagger was just a ruse on his part, to lure the opponent into a false state of confidence...right before Johnny put them down for the count.

In Sonya's words, "Reckless, but an effective strategy." Raiden and Liu also agreed with Sonya's analysis.

Johnny ducked low as Reptile started off the match by spitting acid at his face, the viscous green fluid melting the wooden pathway on impact. In the year spent in Seido, Johnny's fighting style had changed. Thanks to his year-long side trip to Seido, Johnny had become even more powerful, something that Reptile was going to find out the hard way.

A somersault flip kick caught Reptile square on the kisser. As Reptile was sent flying, Johnny landed on his feet, and leapt after him, performing his Shadow Uppercut. Aside from the Shadow Kick, it was another of Johnny's signature moves. To anyone watching, it was as if the action star had elongated and faded, his movements being caught in a green strobe light.

If anyone thought that Johnny Cage was a fake, they sure as hell didn't now.

'Hmm...interesting technique,' Kenshiro thought.

Reptile landed on his back, while Johnny once again landed on his feet. Before Johnny could move in to knock Reptile out, the Saurian turned invisible and counterattacked, knocking Johnny into the air and planting both feet into his back, knocking the American star down on the ground, his glasses falling from his face...right before Reptile crushed them under his heel.

'Dammit! Those were my favorite glasses!' Johnny thought.

Getting back to his feet, he faced the invisible Reptile, who shot a Forceball. Johnny flipped over it and planted his foot into Reptile's face, knocking him out of his invisibility. When Reptile got back to his feet, Reptile attempted another dropkick, but Johnny rolled out of the way.

Getting back to his feet, he glared at the Saurian assassin. "Those were $500 sunglasses, asshole," he sniped.

In response, Reptile crouched on all fours, and went back to being invisible.

"Not gonna catch me with the same trick again, you walking leather jacket," Johnny muttered as he sidestepped Reptile. He performed a series of kicks, once again knocking Reptile out of the invisibility, and forcing the Saurian on the defensive.

"Hmm...he's pretty good," Kenshiro mused as the fight began to go in Johnny's favor.

Nightwolf nodded. "Yes. For all his showboating and shallowness, Johnny Cage is indeed a formidable fighter," the shaman seconded. "But that is nothing but a mask. Johnny is an honorable warrior."

Sonya and Liu both watched their comrade as he began to win. "Looks like his sister was right about his style," she said. "He's keeping the pressure on Reptile, not allowing him to gain any momentum. Like a cage indeed."

Liu nodded, also privy to the knowledge of how Johnny had gotten his stage name.

When Reptile cocked his head back and let loose with another stream of green acid, he saw that he had missed. Looking down, he saw Johnny in a split, right hand chambered back.

**POW.**

Most of the male fighters – Kenshiro, Shang and Baraka included – winced as Johnny punched Reptile in the groin, forcing the Saurian to double over in pain. A boot-to-da-head knocked Reptile down and out.

The match was over. Johnny Cage had won.

"The winner...Johnny Cage!" Shang bellowed as two of his soldiers carried Reptile off the platform.

"Hot damn, am I good!" Johnny whooped. "He got Caged! That's it, ha-haa! Oh yeah! I'm so pretty!"

Liu sighed at his friend's showboating. Raiden shook his head, already aware of Johnny's attitude. Sonya palmed her face, wondering in the back of her mind if Johnny really was one of Raiden's chosen.

Still playing the role of the cocky fighter, the movie star walked up to the contestants and continued to talk trash down the line. "And I'm takin' you down, I'm takin' you down, I'm takin' you out, I'm takin' you out..."

He's now in front of Kenshiro. "...I'm takin' you out..."

And stopped in front of Sonya. "...and I'm takin' you out...for dinner."

Sonya rolled her eyes. "You wish, Cage."

Kenshiro watched the exchange between the blonde officer and the movie star. 'So they do know each other,' he thought.

Shang cleared his throat. "Most impressive, Mr. Cage. Your next challenge...is Baraka!"

With a snarl, the muscular Tarkartan hopped into the ring. Meanwhile, Johnny turned to Raiden. The thunder god gave the mortal a single nod, answering his unspoken question.

Johnny removed his jacket and handed it to Sonya. "Hold on to this for a sec, will ya?" he asked, as he unbuttoned the sleeves on his shirt and rolled them to his elbows. The second thing he did was to retrieve a pair of black leather gloves from his back pocket. The gloves looked expensive, but were Seidan in origin, identifying the both of them as honorary members of the Seidan Guard (they look like the ones he wore in Trilogy). Sonya herself also had on a pair, and not only were they tough, but also comfortable.

"'Praised to be the order which has brought forth...'" Johnny began as he slipped the gloves over his fingers, reciting the battle creed of the Seidan Guard.

"'...from the very edge of chaos,'" Sonya finished.

Neither Johnny nor Sonya noticed the item fall from the jacket pocket and land near Kenshiro's boot. The Hokuto master did and crouched down to pick it up. A photograph, Kenshiro deduced. Curiosity getting the better of him, Kenshiro looked at the picture...

...and his eyes went wide with shock.

The picture was several months old, and it was that of the Carlton family. Kenshiro identified Johnny in the picture, as well as a young woman – his sister, Kenshiro had guessed. The older woman was his mother, a matronly-looking woman.

But it was Johnny's dad that had gotten his attention.

He was older, the hair was dark and cut short, and he was dressed in a policeman's formal uniform, but Kenshiro recognized him in an instant.

Shin.

Johnny Cage's father was **Shin**.

Or rather, Earthrealm's version of Shin, had he aged 25 years, settled down and did not practice Nanto Seiken. 'No wonder he reminded me so much of Shin,' Kenshiro thought as he studied both Johnny's father and Johnny himself. 'He's Shin's son...or at least, Earthrealm's version of Shin.'

Of course as this was an alternate version of Earth, that there would be alternative versions of various people he had met back in his own Earth. People who did not have to worry about bandits and starvation.

Quickly getting over his gaffe, he handed the picture back to Sonya. "You dropped this," he said.

Sonya nodded her thanks as Shang yelled out, "FIGHT!"

Baraka was a Tarkatan – a mutant native to Outworld. His nomadic tribe of mutants were the result of breeding between the Outworld natives and the demons from the Netherrealm. The most distinguishing characteristics of the Tarkata were their razor sharp teeth and their retractable arm blades.

Kenshiro looked back up...and noticed that Johnny had shifted stances. One that he recognized all too well. The basic stance of **Nanto Koshūken (South Dipper Lone Eagle Fist)** – Shin's school.

The sect of **Nanto Seiken (South Dipper Holy Fist)** had 108 schools, and was considered to be the diametric opposite of Hokuto Shinken, given that while Hokuto Shinken was designed to destroy the opponent's body from within, Nanto Seiken was designed to kill from the outside, ranging from stabbing with their hands, or using air pressure to kill their opponent. Kenshiro suspected that Johnny knew a less-refined, but still potentially lethal variant of Shin's style.

Almost by reflex, Kenshiro's eye twitched. 'That's Shin's stance,' he thought.

Nightwolf noticed the eye twitch from Kenshiro. "What is it?"

"I know that style the actor is using," Kenshiro whispered back. "Where I'm from, there is a sect which is the opposite of my school – Nanto Seiken. Its lethality is easily a match for my own style. If Cage is as good as he says he is, then the Tarkatan is in for one bad night."

Baraka snarled as he prepared to strike.

Johnny smirked. "You got a purdy mouth, boy," he drawled in a Southern redneck accent. "Think I can make you squeal like a pig?"

Baraka charged in, hands interlinked in an overhead hammer strike, ready to drive the action star into the ground. Johnny hopped back, and Baraka missed his opponent. Johnny counterattacked with a knife-hand strike to the face. Baraka dodged...

...and felt a single cut emerge from his cheek, drawing blood.

From his place on his throne, Shang's curiosity was aroused. 'It appears that Mr. Cage is full of surprises,' he thought.

Enraged, Baraka lunged in and grabbed a double handful of Johnny's shirt. His original plan was to impale Johnny and cause him to bleed out, but a kick to the shins had brought those plans to a halt. Despite Baraka still gripping his shirt, Johnny leapt into the air and planted both feet into Baraka's chest, knocking him backwards. However, his shirt was an unfortunate casualty, as it was ripped from his body, leaving him in only the vest.

Removing the shredded remains of his shirt, Johnny re-assumed his stance (he does not have his name tattooed across his chest this time around), just as Baraka unsheathed his blades.

"My blades will taste your flesh, human!" Baraka snarled.

"Let's see how well your blades can stand up to the style of Southern Cross," Johnny replied.

Again, from the sidelines, Kenshiro's eye twitched.

During his year-long stay in Seido, Johnny had honed his skills in the Southern Cross style, incorporating several new techniques from the Seidan style of combat into his new style. Since his return, he had not the chance to use it in the open, as it would cause him unwanted problems in the future.

However, with Raiden's silent consent, Johnny was free to go to town on the Tarkatan warrior.

As the fight resumed, Kenshiro's eye twitched even more, as he saw much of Shin in Johnny. Raiden took notice of the eye twitching from Kenshiro, but remained silent.

Johnny somersaulted back in order to avoid Baraka's blades. The Tarkatan then crossed his blades and fired off a spark of energy, to which Johnny countered by flinging his own energy attack, canceling the other out. Baraka's blade nicked Johnny's forearm, drawing blood, while a near-miss had caught Baraka in the shoulder.

Johnny hopped backwards in order to avoid Baraka's wild swings. Master Hotaru had said that the Tarkata were unpredictable and prone to fits of anger and berzerker-like rage, which meant that he had to put Baraka down quick and fast. But he had to watch out for those damned blades.

'Come on, Johnny-boy,' Johnny thought as he kicked Baraka in the head. 'Think! Southern Cross can only take me so far...and on top of that, Baraka's anger is making him even more dangerous. I need to knock him out, or at least cripple him...that's it!'

"I'm takin' you down," Johnny snapped. "And I got just the technique for the occasion."

With Baraka stunned from a headbutt, Johnny leapt into the air.

As Johnny reached the apex of his jump, a vein was throbbing in Kenshiro's head. In his mind's eye, he was replaying their fateful encounter, in which Shin had stolen Yuria from him. The way that Johnny had leaped into the air...it was the same as Shin's: arms outstretched, knees bent. Just as Johnny reached the peak of his jump, Baraka leapt after him.

It was as if Kenshiro had watched as how the first battle with Shin had played out. An air-joust, with Johnny as Shin and Baraka as Kenshiro. Both warriors met in mid-air, legs outstretched, Johnny, ever the showboat, left a trail of green after-images.

The two kombatants landed on opposite ends of the arena, with Johnny landing near the closest of Sonya and the others.

Baraka let out a snarl and spun around, unsheathing his blades. Johnny, in the meantime, simply stood up and dusted his pants off.

"Um...Johnny," Sonya began, pointing at the advancing Tarkatan, "you'd better turn around."

"Worried about me, Sonya? I didn't know you cared," Johnny replied as Baraka was now halfway across the arena. "The match is over."

Sonya shook her head. "No it's not."

'Yes it is,' Kenshiro thought.

Just as Baraka cocked one blade back to decapitate Johnny, he froze in mid-swing. Sonya and the others soon found out why. Johnny had suspected that Tarkartan physiology was somewhat similar to that of a human. And he was right.

The **Gokusatsuken (Prison Murder Fist)** was a technique which Kenshiro knew all too well. It was a technique used by Shin which allowed him to win in their first battle, if it was considered that. The Prison Murder Fist delivered a crippling blow by slicing the tendons in both the opponent's arms and legs, rendering them helpless. Kenshiro had long since developed a counter for such a move, as he would not fall victim to that move again.

As Sonya and the others watched, blood began to spray from the Tarkartan's sliced tendons – arms and legs, the pain causing Baraka to scream in pain. Shang was shocked, as was Kitana and Jade. Even Raiden, Liu, and Nightwolf had surprised expressions on their faces as to how the match had ended.

Johnny turned around and watched as Baraka keeled over, landing on his back, effectively crippled. Walking over to the injured Tarkartan, he said, "Not so tough now, are ya?"

"Most impressive, Mr. Cage," Shang said from his throne. "Now...finish him!"

Johnny turned to the elderly sorcerer. "Excuse me?"

"Finish him!" Shang ordered. "Kill him!"

Without another word, Johnny crouched down beside the defeated Baraka, hand raised in a knife-edge strike.

Kenshiro watched impassively, while Sonya, Raiden, Nightwolf and Liu were hoping that Johnny did not go through with Shang's demand. Baraka looked on in defiance.

Johnny brought the hand down...

**THUNK.**

Instead of tearing through flesh and bone as Shang had hoped for, Johnny had left four finger-shaped holes in the wood next to Baraka's head upon withdrawing his hand.

Sonya and Liu breathed a sigh of relief. Raiden and Nightwolf nodded in approval. Shang looked disappointed. Kenshiro looked slightly impressed.

Johnny stood up and looked at Shang. "You're right about one thing, old man," he said. "Appearances can be deceiving."

He walked away from his fallen opponent. Meanwhile two of Shang's guards carried the wounded Baraka away.

"Very well," Shang said, rising from his throne. "The tournament will resume at dawn!"

Raiden and Liu approached Johnny as the monks dispersed alongside Shang and the other Outworld warriors. "You fought well, Johnny," Raiden complimented.

"Thanks," Johnny replied. He then looked around. "Where's Sonya?"

Liu looked around, as did Raiden. "She's gone," the monk said.

"Must be going after Kano," Johnny said. "Sonya caught sight of him. Either that, or she's gone looking for Jax."

"Liu, go with Johnny and find Sonya," Raiden ordered. "I must speak with Nightwolf."

Johnny and Liu nodded and walked off in search for Sonya. In the meantime, Kenshiro decided to tail the most star and the fighting monk.

With Johnny and Liu...

Johnny sighed. Sonya had given him the slip and gone after Kano. One other thing she had picked up from their time together in Seido was their passion for justice and order. Johnny did as well, just not to such a degree as Sonya. At least she was not a zealot like Hotaru and the others. So here he was with Liu Kang, trying to search for their missing friend, Johnny now wearing a fresh pair of shades.

"Aside from the both of us and Miss Military," Johnny began as he and Liu ventured deeper into Shang's fortress, "what about the old man? Is he competing in the tournament?"

Liu frowned. "You really should be more respectful of Lord Raiden," he sniped.

"This is me being respectful. Nightwolf calls him Haokah, Sonya addresses him as 'Sir,' and you address him by his proper title. Me calling him 'Old Man' is something out of respect. It's not like I call him that while my tone is saying 'Screw You.' Besides, it's more respectful than 'Old Sparky.'"

Liu opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but found that he did not have one. "Fine. You got a point there."

"What I don't understand is that he is the god of thunder and lightning and has the power to reduce Shang to ashes. Why not?"

"Because there are rules that even the gods themselves must obey," Liu explained. "As for your first question, Lord Raiden is a powerful warrior. His specialty is Nan Chuan Kung Fu and Jujitsu."

"Which style?"

"Excuse me?"

"There's more than one style of Jujitsu, Liu. There's at least seven hundred variants of that style," Johnny pointed out.

"About seven hundred and fifty documented variants," Liu corrected.

"So which one is Raiden is a master of?"

Liu grinned. "Lord Raiden knows all of them."

Johnny let out a low whistle. "I'm impressed." After a moment, he spoke again. "You know, you got to admire Sonya's passion. When she sets her mind on something..."

"Johnny...it's not the mind that you are admiring," Liu pointed out.

The action star shrugged his shoulders. "True. She does have a cute butt," he admitted.

Liu shook his head as both he and Johnny entered the Palace Gardens. Johnny looked around the place and frowned. "Okay, seriously...Liu, I don't like this. I'm in a hostile environment. I'm totally unprepared and surrounded by a bunch of guys who probably want to kick my ass. Reminds me of high school. In Reptile and Baraka's case, one wants to eat me and the other wants to stab me to death."

Liu grinned. "You should have known what you were getting yourself into, Johnny."

"Is it too late to back out?" Johnny asked.

"Very," a third voice cut in.

Seconds later, Johnny and Liu found themselves surrounded by a group of Lin Kuei assassins, putting both men on the defensive. Nine in total, faces concealed, dressed in black, ready to mow down the two warriors.

"Great," Johnny muttered as he and Liu went into defensive stances. "Lin Kuei. I'm starting to hate these guys."

Now Liu was surprised. "You know of the Lin Kuei?" he asked.

"We had a couple of run-ins in the past," Johnny replied mildly. "Long story. I'll tell you about it later."

"That's one story you will not be telling, Cage," a male voice said.

The leader of the team of assassins strode in. Johnny recognized him almost immediately. "You again, Sektor?"

Sektor was a life-long member of the Lin Kuei. His father was the current grandmaster of the sect of assassins and thieves. Tall and muscular as Johnny, Sektor was of Chinese ancestry. Dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the beard trimmed. Sektor was dressed in his own black-and-red Lin Kuei uniform, proudly bearing the insignia of his clan on his right shoulder. A red miniaturized fuel tank was strapped behind his back, which fed fuel to the miniaturized flamethrowers strapped to his wrists.

"You were lucky the last time, Cage," Sektor snarled. "This time, I will show you no mercy. No one escapes the Lin Kuei."

"Funny. I did," Johnny replied. "I'm 2-and-0 against you and your precious clan. What's even more funny is that I dated an actress named Lynn Quay."

"I am not amused," replied Sektor.

"Do you ever have a normal day when you are not pissing anybody off?" Liu asked the American star.

"Once. I think that was a Tuesday," Johnny replied.

"You are of Earthrealm, and yet, you wish to kill us?" Liu pointed out. "Why?"

"We were hired by Shang Tsung to eliminate any competitors fighting for Raiden. Especially you," Sektor replied curtly. "And the money Shang is paying is far too tempting to pass up. Nothing personal. Just good business." He then gave the order. "Kill them."

Before the Lin Kuei could move in, a fourth voice echoed through the gardens. "Disgraceful. Nine against two."

Sektor looked around, as did the other Lin Kuei. "Who's there? Who dares to interfere in the affairs of the Lin Kuei?"

Kenshiro emerged from the shadows, having watched the entire spectacle. "I do," he replied flatly as he raised his hands and cracked his knuckles. "This is your only warning," he intoned as he repeated the motion. "Walk away. Walk away and you will live. Refuse...and you will die here."

"Brave fool. No one makes demands of the Lin Kuei and lives," Sektor sneered. He turned to the assassin to his left. "Kill him."

"With pleasure," the Lin Kuei replied. Brandishing a pair of throwing knives, he raised one and flung it blade-first at Kenshiro.

The 64th successor of Hokuto Shinken's hand snapped upward, catching the blade between the index and middle finger, having performed the **Nishi Shinkūha (Two-Finger Nil-Space Grasp)**. The knife-wielding assassin's eyes went wide with shock, but only for a split second, as Kenshiro returned the knife to its owner, blade-first, and just as fast.

**THUNK.**

The knife-throwing Lin Kuei did not have time to react, as the knife's blade entered his skull and brain. It took his body several seconds to realize that it was dead before falling over.

Liu, Johnny and Sektor looked at the dead Lin Kuei, then back at Kenshiro, shock being the evident expression on all of their faces. For Sektor, that shock soon changed to anger, with the rest of the Lin Kuei soon matching Sektor's expression. Brandishing various bladed weapons, they prepared for a fight.

Kenshiro hopped on the balls of his feet before going into his stance (the same one from Ken's Rage). "You want to know why Hokuto Shinken is the strongest style of them all?" Kenshiro asked as the Lin Kuei charged. "You'll soon find out."

"Hokuto Stinkin' my ass! Let's get him!" one of the Lin Kuei shouted.

Once the assassins moved in close enough, chambered his leg back and lashed out in a powerful sweeping kick, catching the assassins in the face, and knocking them on their asses.

"A-TAH!"

"He sounds a lot like you," Johnny noted to Liu.

"Idiots! The whole lot of you!" Sektor shouted. "He's only one man! Kill him!"

The six men got back up and charged again...

...only to stop and grab at their heads as they began to distort and bulge, the veins pulsing as blood ran out of their noses and ears, right before exploding in a bloody geyser of blood, bone and brains.

"By the Elder Gods..." Liu whispered.

Johnny removed his shades, blue eyes in shock as to what he had witnessed. The guy just kicked six assassins...and their heads blew up. "Holy shit."

The next-to-last Lin Kuei, which happened to be a man standing nearly seven feet tall and armed with dual swords, attacked Kenshiro. As Liu, Johnny and Sektor watched, Kenshiro calmly dodged the giant's attacks. What Kenshiro did next would forever be burned into the memories of Johnny Cage, Sektor and Liu Kang.

Having enough of dodging the Lin Kuei giant's attacks, Kenshiro counterattacked.

"A-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA -TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-T A-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-WA-TAH!"

**WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM- WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM- WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-KAPOW!**

To anyone watching, it was as if Kenshiro's hands had literally multiplied into hundreds of pokes and punches, all were aimed at the giant's head, striking at insane speeds, right before Kenshiro's fist impacted against his jaw, knocking the giant back several steps, his head ringing from being at the receiving end of Kenshiro's signature technique: the **Hokuto Hyakuretsuken (North Star Hundred Crack Fist)**.

"Whoa," Johnny managed to say.

Liu said something in Chinese, also shocked as to how fast the fighter moved.

"Hokuto Hyakuretsuken," Kenshiro intoned. "It's over."

"No, it's not over!" the Lin Kuei giant shouted, spinning around, brandishing his weapons. "You think you can stop me with a few dozen pokes and punches?! Face me, you coward!"

"There is no need, as your body will last for another six seconds before your head explodes," Kenshiro replied, not turning around. "**Omae wa mō...shindeiru.**"

Johnny cocked an eyebrow. He had taken Japanese, for one of his movies, so he knew what the newcomer had said: **You are already dead**.

The Lin Kuei giant took one step...and froze. Johnny, Liu and Sektor watched as his head twitched violently to the side, and like the others before him, began to misshapen into a bulbous mass. The giant dropped his weapons and held his head, screaming, just as..

"HIDEBU...!"

**BOOM.**

Just as Kenshiro had predicted, the man's head exploded like the others, the body standing on its feet for several seconds before gravity finally took control and it fell over.

Sektor was shocked. The men who had been assigned to this mission were the best that the Lin Kuei had to offer, and the mystery man had just killed them without batting an eyelash. And now, he was in his sights. This whole mission had just went from bad to FUBAR in less than five minutes.

The remaining Lin Kuei tried to attack Kenshiro from behind. Kenshiro heard him coming, and flipped up and over the assassin. When the assassin spun around...

**THWACK.**

Both Johnny and Liu winced at the sight of Kenshiro jamming both thumbs into the assassin's temples. Even Sektor was shocked.

"You feel that?" Kenshiro asked, not breaking eye contact with the now-petrified assassin. "The human body has 708 **Keiraku Hikō**, better known as tsubo or pressure points. This technique is called **Zankaiken (Fist of Lingering Regret)**. These two pressure points in your temples which I am pressing are called Tōi. Once I remove my thumbs, your body will explode after three seconds."

Almost immediately, Johnny raised his watch and waited to activate the timer. He wanted to see if this guy was serious. 'Three seconds? This I gotta see.'

"If I were you, I would use those three seconds to reflect on your sins," Kenshiro finished as he removed his thumbs. At the same time, Johnny activated the timer on his watch.

One...

The Lin Kuei assassin tried to run away.

Two...

"You coward!" Sektor bellowed as he aimed his wrist launcher, preparing to fire off a rocket.

Three.

Before Sektor could kill him, the Zankaiken did what Kenshiro said it was going to do. The assassin split in two before his body blew up like all the others.

Johnny stopped the timer and showed it to Liu. "Three seconds," he whispered.

Liu looked at the watch, but remained silent.

"And then, there was one," Kenshiro said, glaring at Sektor.

"You dare challenge the Lin Kuei?!" Sektor demanded. "You will die for this offense! For the Lin Kuei!"

A glowing circle of light appeared at Sektor's feet. The red-clad Lin Kuei assassin attempted to pull a cheap-shot off by using his Teleport Uppercut. Kenshiro narrowly avoided the attack. The way that Sektor had fought reminded him of Jagi, only instead of wielding dual sawed-off shotguns and the occasional rocket launcher, Sektor was firing off rockets and tongues of flame from his wrist launchers. Only difference was that Sektor was giving him a challenge, keeping him from getting in close.

But Sektor made a mistake and tried to perform a second Teleport Uppercut, only to miss his target. Kenshiro cocked one fist back and...

"A-TAH!"

**POW!**

Sektor's world exploded in pain as Kenshiro's fist smashed into his face, sending him flying backwards. He landed on the hard stone pavement in a heap.

Shaking the cobwebs out of his head, Sektor got back to his feet. The punch had hurt like hell, as it had felt like he had been hit with a steel bar. The Hokuto warrior closed in, an impassive expression on his face.

"I know what you're thinking," Kenshiro said, gesturing to Sektor's wrist launchers. "Go ahead. Use your weapons, if you think that will help you."

Sektor got back to his feet and aimed his wrist flamethrower at Kenshiro again. "You think that I won't?!"

"You seriously think you can hurt me with those toys?" Kenshiro asked, his voice holding a slight hint of amusement.

"At this range, I won't miss! Now, die...what?!"

The reason for Sektor's shock? He was now facing the business end of his own wrist flame thrower. His arm had involuntarily jerked backwards and he was staring down his own weapon.

"Pressure point Kyousetsu," Kenshiro explained. "You might want to get rid of your weapon before it burns your face off."

Frantic, Sektor pressed the emergency release with his unaffected hand, and breathed a sigh of relief as his launchers and the gas tank fell to the ground.

"Damn it..." Sektor cursed. "You have no idea who you are dealing with!"

"Do you?" Kenshiro replied flatly. "Come...so I can end you."

But before Sektor could try and kill the successor (or rather Kenshiro kill him), fate had stepped in.

**CLAP. CLAP CLAP.**

He emerged from the shadows behind Sektor, clapping. Liu, Johnny and Kenshiro recognized him by the blue-and-black uniform as one of the Lin Kuei, as he was standing with Sektor and Cyrax earlier in the night.

Bi-Han was one of the best assassins and thieves that the Lin Kuei had to offer, with his younger brother Kuai Liang a close second. Both him and his brother had been abducted by the Lin Kuei as children and trained in the clan's methods and assassination techniques from an early age. Standing just as tall as Kenshiro, muscles bulging from his Lin Kuei uniform, face obscured by his mask, he took in the scene before him. He was a cryomancer with a fitting codename: Subzero.

It was also known that he had a heated rivalry with Sektor, who was also the son of the Lin Kuei grandmaster. Sektor did not take it very well that Subzero was chosen to steal not only the Map of the Elements, but also to retrieve Shinnok's amulet from the Temple of the Gods. Subzero was offered the contract of exterminating Raiden's chosen warriors, but had declined. He had his own personal demons to face, leaving Sektor to accept the contact.

Kenshiro's mind then showed him another vision. Two brothers with the power to freeze, with the younger idolizing the elder to the point that he took on his elder brother's codename to honor his memory. The same elder brother who would become a denzien of the Netherrealm, while the younger brother would become a cybernetic abomination.

"A messy, yet effective technique. Had things been different, you would be well at home with the Lin Kuei," Subzero complimented, walking past both Sektor and Kenshiro. He nudged the remains of the Lin Kuei giant with one foot. "Our weaponsmaster, Choi. One of our best."

"Bi-Han! What are you doing?!" Sektor shouted. "Kill him!"

Subzero looked at Sektor, then at Kenshiro. "This is your contract, Sektor. You know the rules of the Lin Kuei. We do not interfere with the other's contracts. A rule put in place by the Grandmaster - your father. This is your mess." Turning back to Kenshiro, he asked, "What is your name, stranger?"

"I value my name," Kenshiro replied. "I do not give it to those who are going to die."

Subzero smirked from underneath his mask. "You got spirit. I admire that in a warrior. Allow me to break the ice. I am Bi-Han." He raised one hand, forming a ball of ice. "You can call me Subzero. Remember my name well, warrior, for if we meet in battle, it will be your doom."

He dismissed the ice ball and walked away without further incident. Sektor, seeing as how he was undermanned, retreated.

Kenshiro's mind raced to one of the visions he had while with Delia. He knew that Subzero would not leave the island alive. In his mind, he sees a confrontation between the Lin Kuei cryomancer and a hell-born specter whose sole desire was vengeance.

_"The Shirai Ryu are dead. You will suffer as they did."_

_"To Hell with your clan!"_

_"No...**TO HELL WITH YOU!**"_

Kenshiro shook his head as to clear himself of the vision. Meanwhile, Johnny turned to Liu. "Told you he was a good guy," he said.

Liu nodded. "Good call."

Kenshiro turned to face the monk and the action star. Now that he was up close, Kenshiro could get a better look at both Liu and Johnny. He definitely saw Shin in the American star, and as for Liu, he bore a very strong resemblance to Rei. "You two okay?" he asked.

Johnny nodded. "Yeah. We're good. Thanks for the help." He then introduced himself and Liu. "I'm Johnny Cage. He's Liu Kang."

Kenshiro nodded. "Kenshiro," he introduced himself. He turned to Johnny. "That style you used on Baraka...satisfy my curiosity, what is it called?"

"Translated, it means 'Eagle of Southern Cross,'" Johnny replied. "Why you ask? You know about the Southern Cross style?"

"In a way," replied the Hokuto warrior. "The style is similar to one I am familiar with from where I'm from: Nanto Seiken," Kenshiro explained. "Particularly Nanto Koshūken."

"Nanto Koshūken..." Johnny repeated, racking his brain for the translation. "'South Dipper Lone Eagle Fist.'"

"There are similarities between your style and that of Nanto Koshūken," Kenshiro explained. "The style consists of using rapid-fire hand strikes to stab the opponent to death, as well as flying kicks."

"How do you know that?" Johnny asked.

"I know the style well," Kenshiro replied somberly, as his mind went back to the day that Shin had taken Yuria from him. "More intimately than others."

"I found from some old scrolls I found on an island in the Mediterranean," Johnny explained. "From my father's side, I'm descended from a cult who bred warriors for the gods. They described the Southern Cross style in great detail. I don't know why, but I soaked up everything from those scrolls like a sponge. Stuff like that would take years to master, yet I did."

"Indeed," Raiden said, as he and Nightwolf appeared, having watched the entire exchange between Kenshiro and the Lin Kuei from a distance. "Despite his ego and shallow personality, Johnny Cage is a formidable fighter."

"Sure," Johnny mumbled. "Take another stab at my ego."

Liu elbowed him in the gut.

Kenshiro bowed to Raiden. "Lord Raiden."

Raiden responded with a nod of the head. "So you are the warrior which Nightwolf has been speaking of. Your technique is...unique, but very impressive."

Johnny, in the meantime, left the group, as he still have not found Sonya.

"What can you tell me about this tournament?" Kenshiro asked. "Nightwolf has filled me in on some of the details, but there are some things that I would like to know."

&^%%

Quan Chi had watched the entire fight from the shadows. He watched as Kenshiro had defeated the Lin Kuei assassins without batting an eyelash.

A free-roaming sorcerer and necromancer from the Netherrealm, Quan Chi was also a martial artist with a lean, wiry build. His most distinguishing feature was his completely white skin. Whether or not he had painted it himself or was born an albino, was not known. Rings were around his eyes, making them seem even more hollow, his head devoid of any hair. Tattooed in red in were strange incantations, located on his head and arms. Aside from the single spiked shoulder pad, he was naked from the waist up. Black pants with spiked kneepads and leather boots completed the outfit. On his belt was the bronze Amulet of Shinnok – the true copy, unknown to Raiden, Subzero and even Shinnok himself. He had kept the original amulet while Raiden, Subzero and Shinnok fought over the false copy.

What made Quan Chi more dangerous was that instead of summoning the denziens of the Netherrealm to attack his enemies, Quan Chi preferred to use fallen warriors for the task. He already had Hanzou Hazashi of the Shirai Ryu – codenamed Scorpion under his command. Now, Quan Chi had his sights set on Bi-Han, his murderer.

But now, Quan Chi was studying the Hokuto fighter with great interest.

'Kenshiro of Hokuto Shinken...' Quan Chi thought as he departed. 'You are a very interesting man. In the end, you will serve me in the Netherrealm.'

Aside from Quan Chi, Shang Tsung and Prince Goro had been watching the events unfold from a distance. Shang frowned, as the money he had paid Sektor for his service in thinning out Raiden's numbers had all been in vain. But Shang even had to admit that the man who had saved Liu Kang and Johnny Cage from certain death was indeed powerful, as the bodies of the dead Lin Kuei could bear witness.

"This tournament appears to grow even more interesting by the minute," Goro noted.

Goro was a Shokan, a race of half-human and half-dragon warriors who made their home in the subterranean kingdom of Kuatan in Outworld. As he was a prince, he was of the more noble Draco lineage. A Shokan is easily identified by their four massive arms, their brute strength and the fact that they literally tower over humans. Goro was no different. Two thousand years old, standing eight-feet-two and tipping the scales at five-fifty, he was the heir apparent to the throne of Kuatan. His parents, King Gorbak and Queen Mai, were staunch supporters of Shao Kahn's rule.

As it turned out, Goro was not the only child of Gorbak and Mai, as they had several other sons who vied for the throne of Kuatan. Shokan tradition stated that in order to inherit the throne, the siblings must fight each other to the death. Goro had emerged from the battles victorious, thus earning the position of heir apparent, and that had caught Shang's attention when he decided to make his return to Earthrealm.

There was only one rule in which the Shokan valued above all others: survival of the fittest...and the most ruthless. For the past five centuries, Goro was the reigning Mortal Kombat champion, having defeated the Great Kung Lao, thus securing the Shaolin Tournament under Shang's control and allowing the wily sorcerer to corrupt it.

"Indeed," Shang admitted, eyes locked on Kenshiro. "That one man managed to wipe out Sektor's team of assassins, while leaving Sektor himself injured." He had originally dismissed Kenshiro earlier on when he tried to make an example out of Johnny Cage, but that backfired when he not only defeated Reptile, but left Baraka seriously injured with that strange fighting style of his.

"Do you know who he is?" Goro asked.

Shang shook his head. "He did have an invitation to compete in the tournament. But his technique is impressive, to say the least. I will see how he fares against one of our own fighters."

Goro nodded. "You can have Liu Kang's soul. I wish to fight the newcomer. He will have the honor of having his spine broken at the hands of Goro."

Shang nodded. Both he and Goro departed from the gardens, Shang making plans. Once Goro killed the newcomer, he would steal his soul...and learn his secrets.

**Nishi Shinkūha (****二指真空把 ****Two-Finger Nil-Space Grasp).** Kenshiro catches thrown projectiles such as needles, knives and arrows between his index and middle fingers, before throwing them back at their owners. Can also do this en masse, as in the case against Jugai's forces during the Battle of Gesso City.

**Zankaiken (****残悔拳 ****Fist of Lingering Regret)**. Kenshiro jams both of his thumbs into the opponent's temples, striking the Toi pressure points. Upon releasing

**Hokuto Hyakuretsuken (****百裂拳 ****North Star Hundred Crack Fist).** Kenshiro's signature technique. Also known as the Hundred Crack Fist of the North Star. Kenshiro unleashes a barrage of punches which strikes the opponent's 708 pressure points before knocking them away. Seconds later, their body explodes.


	5. 4: Kenshiro Makes His Debut!

**Chapter Five: Kenshiro Makes His Debut! The Successor versus the Necromancer! (Rewrite)**

Snafu's Notes: So far, so good. In fact, it is because of this story that I am posting a new challenge – the **Mortal Kombat Time Travel Challenge**. The plot is pretty easy: Delia summons a good guy to try and stop Raiden from screwing up big time, while Shao Kahn summons the good guy's hated rival (i.e., if Delia summons Ryu or Terry Bogard, then Shao Kahn summons either Akuma or Geese Howard). The hero receives a series of visions from Delia, but they become scrambled from his trip through the portal. You can use any character you like (anime/manga, comics, TV shows, videogames, etc...). Most importantly, have fun.

Furthermore, I ask that you keep a friend of mine – and fellow co-author – in your prayers. He just recently lost his father to illness. To the person in question, you know I am speaking of you.

With Quan Chi...

Quan Chi had watched the fight between Kenshiro and the Lin Kuei. Suffice to say, the Hokuto successor had piqued the necromancer's interest. 'Kenshiro of Hokuto Shinken...' Quan Chi thought. 'You are a very interesting man. In the end, you will serve me in the Netherrealm.'

However, as Quan Chi turned to leave, he had a change of heart. He would challenge Kenshiro himself and see just how good he is. Sektor and Lin Kuei were no pushovers, but even Quan Chi had to recognize Kenshiro's strength.

'I already have Hanzou under my command. And Bi-Han will be next,' Quan Chi thought as he opened a portal and stepped through. 'And if I take him from Shang Tsung, then that will be a nice bonus.'

* * *

With Kenshiro and the others...

"There are similarities between your style and that of Nanto Koshūken," Kenshiro explained to Johnny. "The style consists of using rapid-fire hand strikes to stab the opponent to death, as well as flying kicks."

"How do you know that?" Johnny asked.

"I know the style well," Kenshiro replied somberly, as his mind went back to the day that Shin had taken Yuria from him. "More intimately than others."

"I found from some old scrolls I found on an island in the Mediterranean," Johnny explained. "From my father's side, I'm descended from a cult who bred warriors for the gods. They described the Southern Cross style in great detail. I don't know why, but I soaked up everything from those scrolls like a sponge. Stuff like that would take years to master, yet I did."

"Indeed," Raiden said, as he and Nightwolf appeared, having watched the entire exchange between Kenshiro and the Lin Kuei from a distance. "Despite his ego and shallow personality, Johnny Cage is a formidable fighter."

"Sure," Johnny mumbled. "Take another stab at my ego."

Liu elbowed him in the gut.

Kenshiro bowed to Raiden. "Lord Raiden."

Raiden responded with a nod of the head. "So you are the warrior which Nightwolf has been speaking of. Your technique is...unique, but very impressive."

Johnny, in the meantime, left the group, as he still have not found Sonya.

"What can you tell me about this tournament?" Kenshiro asked. "Nightwolf has filled me in on some of the details, but there are some things that I would like to know."

Before Raiden could explain, a green portal opened up and out stepped Quan Chi, the portal closing behind the Netherrealm necromancer. Almost immediately, Raiden was on his guard, as was Liu and Nightwolf.

Kenshiro then received another vision. This time, it was that of him fighting Souther at the foot of the massive pyramid.

_"It's over for you, Souther. I have struck the **Jinchūkyoku** pressure point - the most lethal of all of the Keiraku Hikō. In three seconds, your body will disintegrate and you will die a most painful death."_

_"Is that so, little man? I'll even count down for you. One...two...three."_

"Quan Chi," Nightwolf growled. "Necromancer and sorcerer. I am surprised that Shinnok has let you off from your leash. What business do you have with us, demon?"

"Hmph. My business is not with you, shaman," Quan Chi replied. One gloved hand pointed at Kenshiro. "My business is with him."

Kenshiro did not miss the underlying meaning. Neither did Raiden, who ordered the two men to the sidelines with a silent glance. A challenge. He stood before the necromancer and shifted into his stance. "I accept your challenge."

Quan Chi went into his own stance. "You will serve me in the Netherrealm."

As Kenshiro waited for Quan Chi to make the first move, his mind went back to the vision of Souther. 'What the hell does that mean? Why does this demon reminds me of Souther?' The realization then came to him as he understood the meaning of the vision. 'Souther's heart and pressure points were reversed. Either Quan Chi's pressure points are reversed or he has none at all.'

Kenshiro sidestepped a straight punch to his face, then ducked under a spinning back kick. He quickly responded by firing off several jabs to the face, of which Quan Chi blocked. Kenshiro avoided the chop to the chest and ducked under the hop kick which followed. He then responded by launching a barrage of blows to Quan Chi's chest, causing the pale-skinned necromancer to stagger back...

"A-TAH!"

...followed by a quick flying kick which caught Quan Chi square in the face. Quan Chi went down.

Before Kenshiro could follow up with his assault, Quan Chi got back to his feet and fired off a green skull. The ghastly projectile had caught Kenshiro square in the chest, stunning him long enough for Quan Chi to ensnare him with his Trance. Kenshiro was helpless as he shambled forward like a zombie, allowing Quan Chi to lay into him with a brutal combo: an overhead strike with a ridge-hand uppercut, knocking the Hokuto warrior into the air. The necromancer then sank into the earth, and appeared above Kenshiro, planting both feet into his torso, slamming him into the ground, right before kicking him repeatedly; once, twice, three times, with the fourth blow to the back of the head, knocking him back.

Kenshiro shrugged off the attack as he got back to a vertical base. Quan Chi hit just as hard as Mr. Heart, if not harder. He got back into his stance and the fight continued.

* * *

With Shang and Goro...

"Lord Tsung!"

Shang and Goro turned around. Skarlet had materialized from a pool of blood. "What is it?" Shang asked, annoyed. "Your assignment was to shadow Quan Chi. What business do you have with me?"

"The necromancer has initiated kombat with one of Raiden's chosen," Skarlet reported.

Shang growled. 'Just what are you up to, Quan Chi?' he thought.

"Who is the mortal the necromancer is fighting?" Goro demanded.

"The one who slaughtered the Lin Kuei assassins led by Sektor, Prince Goro," replied the bloody warrior. "The warrior known as Kenshiro."

"Kenshiro..." Shang repeated. "So that's his name. This might be well worth our time, Goro."

The giant Shokan nodded and both champion and grandmaster returned to the site of the battle.

* * *

With Sektor and Subzero...

Underneath his mask, Subzero was grinning as Sektor rearmed his wrist launchers once the effects of the Kyosetsu pressure point faded. Sure his fellow Lin Kuei were dead at the hands of the mystery man in leather, but to see Sektor humiliated was well worth the cost of life.

"That bastard," Sektor muttered as he brought his weapons online. Glaring at Subzero, he seethed, "The Grandmaster will hear about this."

The Lin Kuei cryomancer waved his rival off. "Go ahead and tell your father. He won't save your hide this time. That team of assassins was your responsibility. It's not my fault that you underestimated your target."

"Subzero! Sektor!"

From the trees, a Lin Kuei appeared, out of breath. The Lin Kuei was an international organization based out in China with members worldwide, male and female. Bi-Han and his younger brother, Kuai Liang were Chinese on their father's side and American on their mother's side. Kuai Liang's best friend, Tomas Vbrada was from the Czech Republic. Then there was Cyrax.

Cyrax hailed from Motswana, and like Bi-Han, was a proud member of the Lin Kuei. A prodigy in the martial arts, his forte was ninjitsu and the Russian close-quarters combat style Samozashchita Bez Oruzhiya, or Sombo for short. He, like Tomas and Kuai Liang, was an expert in infiltration and relied on using his ki energy to complete his missions. In fact, it was Kuai Liang and Bi-Han who had scouted Cyrax and had invited him to join up.

Tall, dark-skinned and muscular, he, like Sektor, was dressed in a Lin Kuei uniform, save that his was different than Sektor's own and that his was black-and-yellow. A bandanna kept the dreadlocks from obscuring his face. Like Sektor, he had no problems in using weapons in kombat. Cyrax, however, prefered to use timed bombs, energy nets and even a spinning blade. He was also on Sektor's team of assassins and was returning from reporting in to Shang Tsung when Sektor made his move against Liu and Johnny, and that saved his life.

"What is it?" Sektor asked annoyed.

"The necromancer is engaged in kombat with one of Raiden's chosen warriors," Cyrax reported, his English laced with his Botswanan accent.

Subzero scoffed. "Who? The Shaolin or the movie star? Or is it the shaman?"

"Neither one," Cyrax replied. "A man, six feet tall, dressed in leather..."

"...with dark spiky hair?" finished Subzero.

Cyrax nodded. "I managed to hear the guy's name. His name is Kenshiro."

"Japanese fellow, huh?" Now Subzero was interested. From his past encounters with Quan Chi, he knew first-hand that the wily necromancer was someone not to be underestimated following the fiasco with Shinnok's Amulet two years earlier. "Looks like this may be worth our time."

"That bastard will pay for what he has done to my men!" Sektor snarled.

"No."

Sektor froze in mid-step. He turned around and faced Subzero. "What?"

"Quan Chi is not your average sorcerer," Subzero explained. "Even I had problems with him in the past. The fact that Quan Chi is fighting the newcomer is a rare event. You, Sektor, will do nothing. I want to see just how good this warrior is."

* * *

With Kenshiro and Quan Chi...

Quan Chi had to admit that Kenshiro was good. Real good. So much so that he was able to fight his way out of the Trance when he attempted it a second time, if not the busted lip and sore jaw was to bear witness of Kenshiro's resolve. His ribs were also sore from the monstrous impacts of the Hokuto warrior's fists and feet.

"You are strong," the bald-headed sorcerer admitted. "But not strong enough."

With that, Quan Chi began to chant an incantation. Kenshiro remained on his guard. Then he saw Quan Chi's aura emanating from the necromancer. A sickly green which radiated from his body.

"You have no chance in defeating me, Kenshiro," Quan Chi stated. "I have increased my strength and agility. This is your only chance. Surrender now and join my side. Resist and you will die before Raiden's eyes. Either way, you will be in my service."

If anything, Kenshiro did not look intimidated by the threat. He responded by wiping the blood from his own bruised lip. "You've given me a good fight, demon. But I'm going to have to pass on your offer."

As Raiden, Liu and Nightwolf watched, Kenshiro's aura - blue in color - began to seep from his body. His muscle mass began to increase, the leather jacket stretching from the strain, until it literally ripped itself from Kenshiro's body, leaving him naked from the waist up, the seven scars on his chest appearing in all their glory.

The **Tenryū Kokyū Hō (Art of Dragon's Breathing)** was one of Hokuto Shinken's most powerful techniques, one designed to bring out the full potential of its practitioner. A technique so secret in the school of Hokuto Shinken, that any outsider who saw it being performed would instantly be killed in order to protect its secrets. This time, however, Kenshiro would give these three an exception.

Quan Chi took a step back. 'What...what power!' he thought. He then steeled himself and went back into his stance. 'That power will be mine!'

"Hokuto Shinken has remained undefeated for 2000 years, and will remain so," Kenshiro said as he rent back into his stance. "No cheap magician's trick will stop me. You should feel honored that you caused me to go all out on you."

Quan Chi fired off a Green Skull. Only this time, Kenshiro kicked it out of the way. With a burst of speed, Kenshiro closed in the distance between himself and Quan Chi, the latter being forced on the defensive.

In his long existence, Quan Chi knew many styles, but there were two which caught his interest: Tang Soo Do and Escrima, of which the latter used close combat, mostly with kali sticks and knives. Quan Chi got close to grapple, which he did, but found out that despite the power boost he had given himself, that Kenshiro stood his ground.

"Impossible! This is impossible!" Quan Chi lamented. "Why am I not stronger than you?!"

"A normal person can use up to thirty percent of their natural strength. That is not much for most people," Kenshiro replied, right before headbutting the necromancer in the face, drawing blood from his nose, and knocking him on his ass. "However, a master of Hokuto Shinken can tap into the remaining seventy percent, thus reaching the full one hundred percent of their potential. For all your cheap magic tricks, you are nothing."

"Silence!" Quan Chi bellowed as he punched Kenshiro in the jaw with one gloved hand.

Kenshiro's head snapped to the side, the jaw now sporting a fresh bruise, and left Quan Chi wringing one sore hand. The Hokuto successor slowly turned his head back towards to Quan Chi. "That and my anger can make my body as hard as steel. You will not die today, but you will bear witness to the power of Hokuto Shinken."

Quan Chi attempted to use his Trance to weaken Kenshiro. However, Kenshiro's fist bouncing off his skull showed that it did not have any effect. That proved to be Quan Chi's undoing.

Kenshiro then proceeded to strike Quan Chi in the face with a spinning back kick, the force of the blow causing the necromancer to spin a complete 360 degrees, right before leaping into the air and...

"A-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA -TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-T A-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA..."

**WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM- WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM- WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM**

It was as if Kenshiro was hovering in mid-air as he kicked Quan Chi repeatedly, his leg appearing to have multiplied in such a manner which reminded the God of Thunder and the two Earthrealm warriors of the Hokuto Hyakuretsuken he had performed earlier on the giant Lin Kuei assassin.

"WA-TAH!"

**CRUNCH.**

A powered-up open-palm to the sternum of Quan Chi sent the necromancer ass over teakettle. Nightwolf and Liu both winced as Quan Chi landed face down on the stone pathway.

"**Hokuto Jūha Zan (柔破斬 North Star Breaking Soft Slash)**," Kenshiro intoned as rose to his full height, his muscles returning to normal. He had used this technique on Mr. Heart to get around his fatty tissue, thus allowing him to strike his pressure points. But it also worked well in putting down Quan Chi.

Quan Chi tried to get back up, but ended up collapsing, losing consciousness. He was defeated.

With Shang, Skarlet, and Goro...

Goro folded both pairs of arms, nodding in grim approval. He was no more of a fan of Quan Chi than Shang was. "The little worm has some fight in him," the Shokan prince rumbled. "Quite fitting for him to put the necromancer in his place."

Shang nodded. "The man has talent, Goro. Talent which is wasted on serving Raiden." Even he enjoyed seeing his rival being knocked down several pegs. "We will be watching this Kenshiro with great interest." He turned to Skarlet. "Continue your assignment and shadow Quan Chi."

Skarlet nodded and disappeared in a geyser of blood.

* * *

With Subzero, Sektor and Cyrax...

With Cyrax and Sektor flanking him, Subzero watched in approval of the fight's outcome. Cyrax looked worried. Sektor looked furious. Subzero watched from the corner of his eye as Sektor raised one of his wrist launchers, preparing to fire off a rocket.

Sektor felt Subzero's hand on his arm. "No. Not today," he said. "You were lucky the last time. I seriously doubt that Kenshiro would be merciful a second time, let alone Raiden. Let it go."

Growling, Sektor relented.

As the three Lin Kuei retreated into the shadows, one thought was on Subzero's mind. 'Finally. A man worth killing.'

* * *

With Kenshiro and the others...

As Kenshiro relaxed, he approached the downed Quan Chi. The visions in which Delia had showed him were still scrambled, but he knew that the necromancer played a critical role in the events that were to soon come. But the trip from Delia's Temple to Earthrealm had scrambled what he knew. Second, he could not let Raiden know about what his mission, which would force Shang and Kahn to change their plans.

As Kenshiro was within arm's reach, he leapt back as hellfire erupted between himself and the recovering Quan Chi. Nightwolf, Liu and Raiden assumed fighting stances as Scorpion emerged from the fire. Without exchanging words, the hell-born specter retrieved his master and vanished in a geyser of hellfire.

"Scorpion," Nightwolf explained. "In life, he was Hanzou Hasashi, a member of the Shirai Ryu, a rival clan of Japanese ninja. He earned his codename because of his extraordinary talents with the kunai. Now, he is a hell-born specter under the command of Quan Chi."

Kenshiro turned around. "What happened to him? How did he die?"

"You met his murderer moments ago," Raiden replied. "The Lin Kuei assassin known as Subzero. Bi-Han killed him two years ago. Not long after that, the Shirai Ryu - along with Scorpion's family - were wiped out."

"And Scorpion blames Subzero for the slaughter," Nightwolf finished. "Although I find that hard to believe. Subzero may be a calculating thief and assassin, but slaughtering an entire clan is over the top, even for him. Haokah and I both suspect that Quan Chi may be involved. I am surprised, Kenshiro. Given what I know about Hokuto Shinken from you, you would have went for the easy win by manipulating Quan Chi's pressure points."

"I tried that already," Kenshiro replied.

[Flashback to the fight between Quan Chi and Kenshiro. One punch in particular lands on Quan Chi's chest.]

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) I struck him in the Jinchūkyoku pressure point, which is the most lethal – and painful – of all of the 708 Keiraku Hikō. It disintegrates the body in three seconds. When it failed to do what it was supposed to do, I began to suspect one of two things about Quan Chi: either his pressure points are reversed or given that he is a demon from the Netherrealm, then he is by all accounts immune.

RAIDEN: (voice-over) You had experience in something like that before.

[Cut to various clips of Kenshiro fighting Souther at his pyramid.]

KENSHIRO: (voice-over) Yes. Souther, and master of **Nanto Hō-Ō Ken (South Dipper Phoenix Fist)**, one of the 108 styles under the sect of Nanto Seiken. I used the same pressure point on him, and it did not have any effect. I soon found out the reason why: his heart was on the opposite side and his pressure points have been reversed. My brother Toki found out his secret. Not even the eldest out of all of us, Raoh, knew, and he fought him to a standoff.

[Flashback ends here.]

"I did not say anything, lest I would lose my advantage," Kenshiro continued. "So I continued to fight. This definitely complicates things, as Quan Chi is immune to the effects of my techniques."

"We should regroup with the others," Nightwolf said, with Liu nodding. "I saw an empty lodge not too far from here."

Raiden nodded. "That will do. In the meantime, I will search for Johnny and Sonya."

* * *

With Sonya, at the same time...

Sonya was pacing around the bridge, trying to get into contact with command. "What the hell do you mean you can't find the island?! We're about a hundred clicks away from China in the South China Sea!"

"We're triangulating your signal for evac, Lieutenant Blade, but...(radio static)...there is no island," the voice replied.

"For the love of...I'm standing on it! Just lock onto my wrist comm!" the blonde lieutenant shouted into her radio.

"Copy. Locking on to your signal. What is your current status?"

"They have Jax," Sonya replied. "And if I don't fight in this crazy tournament, they'll kill him. I'm gonna try to rescue him."

"Understood. Command out."

"Seriously," Johnny said as he emerged from the opposite end of the bridge, as Sonya pocketed the radio. "Could you at least found a better spot to call in the Marines?" He looked around the area. "Man...reminds me of 'Lord of the Rings.' All it needs is the Fellowship of Nine and the Eye of Sauron. Maybe a Balrog or three."

"Shut up, Cage," the blonde lieutenant sniped. Looking around her surroundings, she mentally cursed at the fact that she could have picked a better location than where she was at. Both her and Johnny were in what the locals called 'The Pit.' Looking down, Sonya saw that following a two hundred-foot drop, that there was a bed of jagged spikes on the bottom. In the distance, on another bridge, two more kombatants were fighting.

"Raiden did say that the island is stuck between Earth and Outworld," Johnny mused. "Looks like we're in the Outworld part. Maybe that's why your radio's on the fritz." He then snapped his fingers. "I almost forgot. The guy we saw on the boat on the way here, remember him?"

Sonya nodded.

"I called it right. He's on our side. Nightwolf vouched for him and I trust the shaman. Guy's name is Kenshiro. That and his fighting style is for lack of a better word, insane." He then went on to describe the confrontation with the Lin Kuei, and of how Kenshiro had decimated the hit squad.

"You're saying that this Kenshiro guy made their heads explode after hitting them once?" Sonya asked.

"You did see me tell you what I've seen with a straight face," Johnny replied. "You know me, Sonya. I'm an actor and even I couldn't make this shit up if I tried. He also seems to be familiar with the Southern Cross style I use as well, according to him it is similar to a style he is familiar with."

"So we got the Lin Kuei gunning for any and all Earthrealm fighters, and the Black Dragon running around in the shadows," Sonya said. "So which ones do we worry about?"

"Us," a male voice spoke with a thick Outback accent.

Emerging from behind Johnny and Sonya, was the bane of Sonya's existence, Kano.

Kano's origins were a mystery. Some sources had him as being abandoned by an American woman in the streets of Tokyo. But most agreed that he had spent the majority of his time honing his skills in the Australian outback, hence the thick Outback accent. He had military training, which meant that he had served in the armed forces at one time, but his chief profession was being a member of the Black Dragon.

Kano was a brute of a man. Standing as tall as Johnny, with undisciplined dark hair and a beard to match. But his most distinguishing feature was his face plate which covered the right side of his face, the end result of Jax knocking out his eye and fracturing his skull, the eye glowing blood-red. His attire consisted simply of a sleeveless jacket, no shirt underneath, denim jeans, kneepads and a pair of boots. On his left arm, was a tattoo of a coiled black dragon. A pair of knives were strapped to his legs. A metallic bandolier was strapped across one shoulder.

Sonya hated Kano with a passion, mainly because while acting as an informant, Kano had most of Sonya's teammates killed, one of which was her fiance. To that, Sonya took that personally and vowed to either bring Kano to justice or, following her stint in Seido, outright kill him and wipe out every last remnant of the Black Dragon.

Kano was not alone. Accompanying him was his newest partner-in-crime, a new protegee to replace Jarek. A redheaded woman, shorter than Sonya, but just as deadly as her mentor, her attire was a black bustier, red sleeveless vest, red-and-black pants and black boots.

Kira was the newest recruit of the Black Dragon. Originally an arms merchant, Kira was in the mountains of Afghanistan, disguised as a man, selling her weapons to the various warlords inside her hideout, which happened to be a mountain cave. When one of the warlords discovered that she was in fact a woman, Kira was forced to fight, stab and shoot her way out of the caverns. Upon reaching the entrance, Kano stood outside waiting for her to resurface. In Kano's sight, a woman who was cutthroat to do business with even the most ruthless of men was a woman after his own heart (no pun intended). Kano then offered her a place in the Black Dragon. Kira agreed and Kano took her under his wing.

Kano and his student were both present in the Courtyard when Johnny had fought both Reptile and Baraka. Even he had to admit that the style which Johnny used was incredibly deadly. When Johnny had killed Jarek, Kano had planned on killing off Johnny's family in retaliation, but Raiden had put a stop to that scheme, threatening to make the Black Dragon member glow in the dark should he raise his hand against Johnny's parents and sister, as they were under his protection. As a result of discovering that little fact, Johnny also has a growing dislike for the Black Dragon as well.

In their year training in Seido, both Sonya and Johnny had learned several new tricks, including the Seidan fighting style used by the Seidan Guards. Now, it was time for them to put their training to the ultimate test.

"'Ello, Sonya. Miss me?" Kano asked.

"Like the plague," Sonya replied.

"So tell me...how are things at Command?" Kano asked, hoping to make Sonya mad to the point that she would lose her temper. He was disappointed that she did not take the bait. Where she had ran off to for the year had done wonders for her temper. "Heh. You always were a gullible little bitch. Then again, I really couldn't have done it without you. You were far too trusting, Blade."

Sonya cracked her neck muscles. "So tell me...what kind of flowers would be appropriate?"

Now Kano was puzzled. "Flowers? For what?"

"Your funeral," replied Sonya.

"So you're Johnny Cage," Kira said. "Not what I was expecting."

"I get that a lot," the star replied. "The Lin Kuei found that out the hard way...as did Jarek and your buddies. Me, personally, I'm not that big on killing. But when done for the right cause, it's just another chore."

Kano's hand balled into a fist. "I haven't forgotten about you, Cage. Jarek was like a brother to me. Kira, keep the movie star occupied! Blade is mine!" Kano's red eye glowed as he anticipated the battle to come. "Once I put an and to your little girlfriend, I will take great pleasure in ripping your beating heart from your body!"

"Less talking," Johnny replied. "More fighting."

Kira flipped over Johnny and Sonya's head, landing on the other side, forcing Johnny and Sonya back-to-back, and blocking off any chance of escaping.

Johnny did not look the least bit concerned. "Okay then," he said as he went into his stance. "You want to go pro? Let's dance."

(Cue 'Rescue' from Ip Man 2 Soundtrack at the 2:00 mark)

Sonya started things off by throwing a gloved fist a Kano's head, who caught not only that, but also Sonya's other fist with his other hand. "You can't win, Blade. No matter how hard you try, you can't beat me," Kano gloated. "I can read you like a book. I've studied all your moves."

"Oh yeah?" Sonya retorted. "Study this!"

A knee to the groin, followed by Sonya interlocking her gloved hands and slamming them into Kano's skull. Even with the training Sonya had done in Seido, she knew that Kano was very dangerous. Aside from his military training and his obvious talent with the knives, Kano was an expert in Akido and the Xing Yi style of Kung Fu, both styles he had learned from the elder members of the Black Dragon.

Then there was that blasted faceplate. Aside from the fact that Kano likes to headbutt his opponents, but he also fires off laser beams on occasion, and Sonya knew from experience that those blasts hurt.

"I would like to keep you alive so I can take you in," Sonya said, going into her fighting stance, "but I'm having a change of heart. You killed my teammates. You will not make it out of here alive."

"Oh, I got a knack for survival," Kano replied. "However, both you and the pretty boy are going to die here."

As Sonya and Kano fought, Johnny had his hands full with Kira. Like Kano, she wielded a pair of knives - Dragon's Teeth - complete with a serrated edge. Kano also took her on as a student in the art of Xing Yi, thus making her even more dangerous. But Johnny was able to prove that the Southern Cross style was indeed lethal in his match with Baraka.

But Johnny opted not to use the Southern Cross style. At least, not yet, as Kira was not using her knives.

"You're good," Johnny said, Kira having tagged him with several strong shots, to which Johnny had fought back. "Too bad you're fighting for the wrong team. If the Black Dragon is here, then that means that Shang must have hired you guys as well. And it's a known fact that Outworld has a nasty habit of stabbing its allies in the back."

"Oh, I'm a lot better," Kira replied as she reached down and pulled out her knives. "You got no stuntman to protect you now, Cage."

Johnny smirked. "Darlin', here's a little secret: I do my own stunts."

Bobbing and weaving like a boxer, Johnny dodged Kira's knife swings. Johnny responded by punching Kira in the ribs twice, followed by a uppercut to Kira's chin, knocking her backwards. That made Kira even more madder and her attacks intensified.

Kano, on the other hand, was forced to pull out his own pair of blades, forcing Sonya to dodge his knife swings. Kano was proficient in all weapons, but knives were his specialty. "Guns for show, knives for pro," he once said.

"Johnny! Switch!" Sonya shouted, catching Kano with a rabbit punch.

A chop to the throat stunned Kira long enough for Johnny to perform a split, allowing Sonya to jump over the action star and to plant one booted foot into Kira's chest. Johnny got back to his feet and spun around, just in time to see Kano hurl himself towards him, his body tucked into a tight ball. Kano smashed into Johnny, knocking him on his back, but Johnny quickly recovered and was back on his feet. Johnny went into his Southern Cross stance and began to take the fight to Kano.

Kira tried to gut Sonya, but Sonya caught her wrist with one hand. When Kira tried to do the same with her other hand, Sonya caught that as well. The blond Special Forces operative applied pressure onto Kira's wrists, forcing her to drop her knives. This was followed by Sonya headbutting her, knocking her back.

Johnny dodged of Kano's knife thrusts. Stab. Slash. Slash. Thrust. Stab. Johnny counterattacked with a hard elbow to the breastplate, followed by a hard open palm to the chin. Johnny then completed the combo with a Shadow Kick, knocking Kano on his back. Kano then counterattacked by flinging his knives at Johnny, one of which having cut into his forearm, distracting Kano enough to launch himself at Johnny, body tucked tight into a tight cannonball. To Johnny, it felt like he was being hit by a 250-pound linebacker. His shades went flying off his face and fell into the abyss.

Johnny landed on his back, and Kano was on top of him. A stomp to the chest made Johnny spit up blood. Kano then crouched over Johnny, triumphant in his victory.

"I told you that I was going to rip your heart out of your chest, Cage," Kano said as he raised one hand. "That will be the last thing you will see before I kill Sonya."

Kano brought his hand down...

...only for Johnny to grab his wrist, Kano's fingernails nicking the flesh.

"Sorry to disappoint you, One-Eye," Johnny said. "Dying is not on my agenda today."

Kano then screamed as he felt Johnny's hand impale him in the shoulder. Johnny then kicked Kano off of him and got back to his feet, four finger-sized holes gushing out blood. "Now you really pissed me off," Johnny seethed. "My sister gave me those glasses."

Johnny ducked low as Kano tried to go for his throat. He could have gotten an easy kill by impaling Kano in the heart, but decided against it. Sonya wanted to kill him herself and he would not want to rob her of that chance. Beating the holy hell out of the Black Dragon member, however, was a nice alternative.

With speed honed from both his time in Seido and his Southern Cross training, Johnny went to work on Kano's torso. He was not as fast as Kenshiro when he did the Hundred Crack Fist, but he was fast enough. The hard cross to the jaw rocked Kano's head to the side, blood flying out from his mouth. A Shadow Kick to the breadbasket completed the combo and Kano was writhing in pain, holding his sides, the ribs obviously broken and one of his kidneys ruptured. He was out of the fight.

With Kano neutralized, Johnny turned his attention to Sonya and Kira. Kira had his back towards him, and did not see Johnny approach her.

"Pardon me," he said, tapping Kira on one shoulder, causing her to freeze in mid-swing. "May I cut in?"

Kira spun around, only to see Johnny's fist smash into her face, spinning her 180 degrees, only for Sonya to punch her as well. For the next minute, Sonya and Johnny had double-teamed Kira, punching and kicking the defenseless Black Dragon operative, until Sonya's spinning back kick knocked Kira over the ledge. Kano, seeing as how the battle was lost, retreated.

(song ends here)

Sonya and Johnny walked up to the ledge, where Kira was holding onto the bridge with a single hand.

"Help...help me!" Kira shouted. "Pull me up!"

"Where's Jax?" Sonya demanded.

"Pull me up and I'll tell you!"

"Wrong answer," Sonya deadpanned, and placed one booted foot up against Kira's hand. She began to apply pressure, causing Kira to scream.

"You kill me, you won't find your boss!" Kira threatened.

"If Jax dies, then I will personally hunt down the Black Dragon with an army of the Seidan Guard and the Special Forces backing me up! Now talk!" Sonya shouted, grinding her boot on Kira's hand.

"Okay! Okay! Stop!" Kira shouted. Sonya relented.

"Where's Jax?" demanded Johnny.

"He's being held underground," confessed Kira. "There's an entrance about a mile and a half to the west that leads to the underground chambers. You'll find him there." As she was speaking, her free hand reached behind her back in order to pull out a third Dragon's Teeth knife which was hidden inside her vest.

"Thank you," Sonya said, and began to increase the pressure on Kira's hand.

"W-Wait! You said that you would help me back on the bridge!" shouted Kira.

"We didn't make that kind of agreement," Johnny said.

"Wait a second! You can't do this!" Kira objected. "You have to uphold the law!"

"True, but seeing as how Kano screwed both my team and myself over, I'm not in such a mood," Sonya said as she felt Kira's grip starting to weaken.

"This...this is brutality!" Kira said as she got her knife free.

"No. You're wrong," Sonya said. "This is not brutality."

With a yell, Kira flung the knife at Sonya, blade-first. Sonya, acting just as fast, cocked her head to the side and allowed the blade to fly past her head, just as Kira lost her grip on the edge and fell, screaming, her screams abruptly stopping as she was impaled on a massive spike.

"This is where you fall down," finished Johnny. "And Jax says that I'm a bad influence on you." He looked at his arm. "Damn. That one-eyed bastard got me good."

"Get that looked at," Sonya said. "I'm going after Jax."

Johnny sighed. "Try not to die on me. Jax would be pissed if that happened. That and Master Hotaru would be very disappointed."

* * *

Finding Jax was easy enough. The underground lair was unguarded. The lair also served as a prison, if the skeletal remains of prisoners that were shackled on the walls meant anything Sonya found her commanding officer inside a cell, looking like he had went a couple of rounds with Goro and lost.

Dark-skinned and built like a linebacker, Jackson Briggs was born and raised in Chicago's Oak Park district. His father had died when he was a teenager, leaving his mother, Wanda Lee Briggs to raise her son. Jax was a natural athlete in middle and high school, and was offered several scholarships from various universities to play football. Jax decided on a different path. He took a scholarship to the U.S. Naval Academy. Upon graduating, Jax accepted a commission in the Marine Corps and worked his way up the ranks. He was not only the commander of the Special Forces, but also Sonya's superior.

"Jax!" Sonya shouted. "Jax, are you okay?"

"I don't feel so hot," Jax grunted.

After Sonya blasted the locks with her energy blasts, she opened the door and retrieved her injured commanding officer.

"C'mon, Briggs," Sonya grunted. "Move it! That's an order!"

Despite his injuries, Jax managed to grin. "Now you're giving me orders?"

Sonya spoke into her wristcom. "Special Forces Command, this is Lieutenant Blade! Where's that chopper?"

"Evac is en route. ETA is one minute."

Sonya breathed a sigh of relief. "Almost home."

As she tried to support him the best she could, an explosion was heard from outside. "What the hell?" Sonya pondered out loud as she managed to get her boss outside.

"There she is!"

Jax and Sonya looked up. Johnny - his injury now gone, thanks to Raiden - ran into the area. He was accompanied by the aforementioned thunder god, Kenshiro (with a new jacket), Nightwolf and Liu.

"Looks, like you found him," Johnny said, motioning to Jax. He let out a low whistle. "Shang and his buddies worked you over something serious."

Jax glared at Johnny. "Nice to see you too, Cage," he growled. He looked at Kenshiro. "Who's he?"

"He's with us. Nightwolf vouched for him," replied Johnny. "Jax, Sonya, this is Kenshiro. Kenshiro, Lieutenant Sonya Blade and her boss, Major Jackson Briggs."

"Pleasure, although I wish it was under better circumstances," Kenshiro said.

"Jax is injured, and the evac is almost here," Sonya said. "I need to get him out of here."

At that, Sonya saw that Johnny's expression fell, as did the others. "What? What happened?"

"We saw the rescue chopper come in," Johnny said. "Shang blew it up with one of his fireballs before it could land. There were no survivors. I'm sorry, Sonya."

Sonya's expression soon mirrored that of Jax's own. One of disbelief, followed by anger. "Damn it!" Sonya cursed, forgetting that she was still supporting Jax. Fortunately, Nightwolf and Liu made the save, grabbing Jax and gently placing him on the ground.

"Stand back," Raiden ordered as he walked over to Jax and crouched down. Summoning his lightning, he touches Jax on the chest. The commando's body was bathed in blue light for a moment until the light faded. When it did, Jax was healed of all injuries. In fact, he felt a whole lot better than he did in years.

"How you feel?" Raiden asked.

"Never better," Jax replied as he got back to his feet. "Thanks, Raiden."

It was at that moment, another vision came into Kenshiro's mind. This one involved Jax. This vision was brief, and it showed Jax losing both his arms to a ninja with the power of telekinesis, and having indestructible bionic implants grafted onto his body in their place.

Kenshiro filed that memory away and focused on Raiden and the others.

"Your gratitude is unnecessary," Raiden had replied when Sonya thanked him for healing her partner. "I have foreseen events, memories of my future. They lead me to believe that you are all connected to Earthrealm's fate."

"Visions, Lord Raiden?" asked Liu.

Raiden nodded. "Yes. In them, I see Shao Kahn becoming invincible. He will destroy all life in Earthrealm, and we will all die. I believe these flashes are a guide to defeating Kahn. But disrupting the flow of time can have serious consequences."

Jax then asked, "So why can't you do something about it? If you are a god and a warrior, why can't you personally step in and put a stop to this?"

Raiden shook his head. "I cannot. Unless I am challenged to Mortal Kombat, then I cannot participate. For now, the tournament must run its course."

"Well, then it looks like it's up to us," Johnny said. "I didn't come here just to sit around and look pretty."

"We're with you," Sonya said, nodding her head.

Jax balled his hands into fists. "Payback sounds real good. Count me in as well."

* * *

The first day of the Mortal Kombat tournament was officially over. As the fighters retired for the night, Raiden suggested that everyone stay together. Given the fact that Shang wanted them all dead and following Kenshiro's demonstration of his power on the Lin Kuei, the thunder god was not taking any chances, as that would put Kenshiro on Shang and Quan Chi's radar.

After scouting the island, Raiden found a vacant lodge - built in the Japanese fashion - on the tournament grounds, large enough for his chosen warriors to stay in for the night, and loaded with food to boot. Once Raiden checked that the food was not poisoned and that the lodge was free of traps, the chosen warriors settled in for the night. Nightwolf placed added protection on the lodge in the form of wards, with Raiden amplifying their effectiveness.

Once they tucked in the food that was left for them, Raiden told them to retire for the night, as the tournament will resume come dawn.

* * *

Kenshiro was dreaming yet again. This time, he was dreaming about the final confrontation between himself and Jagi.

Kenshiro had suffered much because of his brother's manipulations. He was the one who had goaded Shin into kidnapping Yuria and leaving him for dead. He also undergone a campaign to terrorize the survivors of the wasteland by claiming that he was Kenshiro.

In the eyes of Kenshiro, Jagi was a disgrace to all which Hokuto Shinken had stood for. Unlike himself and his elder brothers, Jagi believed victory at any cost, hence his penchant for using firearms and spitting needles during a fight. The seven wounds on his own chest were self-inflicted, his disfigured face hidden by his biker's helmet. Strapped in two holsters at his waist were two sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns. A rocket launcher was strapped to his back.

The two brothers faced off on a skyscraper's helipad in the ruins of downtown Tokyo. At the far end was a shell of a burnt-out helicopter. Behind Jagi, was a gas tank.

"Here we are," Jagi said. "No one can disturb us here, which is perfect for me, as it allows me to kill you at my discretion."

"You've changed," noted Kenshiro. "Last time I remember, you have a bad habit of attacking from behind."

"You really think you defeated me the last time we fought inside the Renkitōza?!" Jagi shouted as he yanked off his helmet, giving Kenshiro a look at his disfigured face, now being held down on one side by metal implants. "Do you remembered that day?!"

Kenshiro remembered that day well. "I haven't forgotten."

"This pain in my head and face...it reminds me just how much I hate you!" Jagi snarled. "Ryuken should not have chosen you as the successor! No little brother should be superior to his elders!"

"So you frame me for your crimes and damn the people who were killed along the way." Kenshiro said as he pulled out a crossbow bolt from his pocket. "You know where I got this from? You should know."

"Heh-heh. Of course I do. It's from that young brat - the one with the 'dutiful little brother.'"

"It also represents the sorrow and anger that your crimes have caused."

"That little bastard means nothing compared to the pain and rage of my scars! Enough talk, Kenshiro! It's time for you to die, and for me to take your place as successor to Hokuto Shinken!" He placed his helmet back over his face. "The last time we fought, you were lucky, since I lost my footing..."

"Even after all this time, you still haven't figured it out," Kenshiro shot back. "You didn't slip. That day inside the Renkitōza, I had struck your tsubo and robbed you the use of your legs."

"What?!"

"Ryuken-sensei was right about you. I should have dealt with you back then. That is a mistake that I will soon rectify now!"

Kenshiro ducked under Jagi's rocket blast. But before Kenshiro could attack, Jagi had dropped the oversized weapon and lunged forward, screaming, "**Hokuto Rakan Genki! (North Star Arhat Attack)**"

Kenshiro began to dodge and parry the rapid-fire attacks. When Jagi attempted to spit a volley of needles at Kenshiro, he caught them with the Nishi Shinkūha and slugged Jagi right in the face with his other hand, denting his helmet and knocking him back ass over head. The twisted butcher of Hokuto landed in a heap.

Jagi shook out the cobwebs from his head. "Impossible..." he muttered as Kenshiro walked over him. "That's impossible!" One hand reached for his shotgun, but hesitated.

"Go ahead," Kenshiro prodded. "If you think using your shotgun will help."

Sure enough, Jagi pulled out his weapon and stood up. "Idiot! Winning is all that matters! Doesn't matter what you use to win, as long as you win!" His hand snapped backwards, and Jagi found himself staring down his own weapon. "What?!"

"Better let go of your gun before your finger pulls the trigger," noted Kenshiro.

"Dammit! Son-of-a-bitch!" Jagi cursed. He then stabbed two pressure points on his arm, which released his gun, just as it went off, narrowly missing his head. He looked at Kenshiro with a growing sense of fear. "This intensity...this cruelty in you...you're not the same brat I once knew."

"I had no choice but to change," Kenshiro replied. "I have the blood of countless enemies on my hands...including those who once were my friends."

"Friends...you mean Shin," Jagi surmised. He rolled backwards and hopped to his feet, standing behind the gas tank. He elbowed the fragile line, causing the fuel to spill out onto the helipad, before hopping onto the tank, laughing maniacally. "You're still too soft, baby brother! There is a reason as to why I chose this helipad! I've been planning your death for a long time! No matter where you go, the fuel will surround you. We're 600 feet off the ground and the building is leaning towards you! You're finished!"

Jagi then produced a match and lit it. "I have not forgotten this endless pain you have caused me. Payback's a bitch! Now...BURN IN HELL, KENSHIRO!" he screamed as he threw the match down onto the fuel, setting it ablaze.

If anything, Kenshiro did not look the least bit concerned. "You don't get it, Jagi! I'm not the one who is going to burn! Your place in Hell is long overdue!"

"Not from where I'm standing!" Jagi cackled. "Since you are going to be roasted to a crisp, I'll give you a parting gift on your way to the hereafter! Your friend, Shin, have you ever wondered why he sold his soul to the devil? Ever wondered who prodded him into taking Yuria from you and leaving you for dead? IT WAS ME, THAT'S WHO!"

* * *

Kenshiro opened his eyes. He found himself inside one of the bedrooms inside the lodge. Jax and Johnny were fast asleep on separate futons. Nightwolf and Sonya were in the next room, also asleep. His jacket rested nearby, but he was not naked from the waist up. Johnny had a spare muscle shirt – red in color – and had given it to him to wear.

So much had passed in the span of several hours. Leaving Nightwolf and the sleeping warriors alone, Kenshiro walked out of the lodge and stepped onto the engawa. The night was clear, the full moon was out, the stars were shining.

It was on a night like this that he and Yuria were on the rooftop of the Hokuto Renkitōza, near the end of who would become the successor. She was pointing out the stars to him. A memory from long ago.

Yuria had taught him the various constellations, as well as of their meanings within the Nanto sect, with Yuria herself representing **Jibosei (Mother Merciful Star)**. Unlike the other Nanto practitioners, Yuria did not master any of the Nanto styles. She instead possessed overwhelming charisma through her acts of compassion and healing. As Yuria did not fight herself, she was protected by the **Nanto Goshasei (Five Chariot Stars of the South Dipper)**.

'Am I up to this task?' Kenshiro thought. 'Can I shoulder this burden? What if I fail?'

'You are,' Delia's voice whispered to him. 'I am with you, Kenshiro.'

The voice calmed him, but he could not go back to sleep.

He had made a name for himself back in his own Earth as **Seikimatsu Kyūseishu (Savior of Century's End)**, but there was one failure which continued to eat at him, even to this very day - Gesso City. The city was home to one of the largest slave markets in the wastelands and was ruled with an iron fist by the tyrant Shisuka, who was a former software developer before the war. Left for dead in the wastelands following his encounter with Shin, Kenshiro was found by a traveling family and their two, but they were all enslaved shortly afterward by the slaver Guruma and his gang and taken to Gesso City.

There, Kenshiro met Fugen, the former master of Nanto Koshūken and Shin's former teacher. But Shin was not the only student of Fugen, as Shin also trained alongside Jugai. Once Shin assumed the mantle of successor, Shin had severed the tendons in Fugen's legs, thus crippling him. As Kenshiro recovered from his injuries, Fugen made him accept his destiny as the Savior of Century's End.

_"It was all of you that showed me...what my destiny is...what everyone was praying for."_

Despite saving the slaves and defeating Fugen, his victory turned out to be a Pyrrhic one. Shisuka had activated the self-destruct sequence and destroyed the city, killing everyone, including Fugen. Kenshiro was the only survivor.

"Trouble sleeping?" Raiden asked as he emerged from the lodge.

Kenshiro nodded. "Yes. Nightmares."

Raiden stood alongside the Hokuto warrior. "You made quite the impression in not only how you dealt with Sektor and the Lin Kuei, but also how you bested Quan Chi. Be warned. The Lin Kuei do not forgive those who offend them, and Quan Chi will not take this defeat lightly."

"Thanks for the advice, Lord Raiden, but I've seen a lot worse. Much worse." He looked out into the clear night sky. "This tournament...it's unlike anything that I have seen or competed in. I've heard the stories from Nightwolf. But nothing compares to the real thing."

Raiden was silent for a moment. "Where are you from, Kenshiro?"

"I'm just a Japanese guy looking to hone my skills in my art. You can say that it was a twist of fate which led me here." It wasn't exactly a lie, but then again, would Raiden believe him if he told him the truth?

"Nothing gets by me," Raiden said. "I would have known about you a long time ago."

"I keep to myself," Kenshiro calmly explained. "I stay off the radar, away from those who wish to use my talents for evil, such as the Black Dragon, Shang Tsung, and the Lin Kuei. My style is an assassin style, but like I told Nightwolf, I'm no assassin. In any case, I'm more of a nomad than anything, seeking perfection in my style."

"The shaman trusts you," Raiden continued, referring to Nightwolf. "I was skeptical at first, but I trust the little wolf. You are right about one thing. This tournament is unlike anything you have ever participated in, Kenshiro. You should be on your guard, especially against Shang Tsung. He may look like a decrepit old man, but he is Shao Kahn's chief Shadow Priest. He can look into your soul and use what you treasure the most against you."

"Nightwolf said the same thing," the Hokuto successor confirmed. "Shang is a sneaky little shit who needs to be put down. However, I will honor the rules of Mortal Kombat and will not fight him...yet."

"That's good to know..." Raiden began, before he stopped and turned his head to the left.

"I saw it too," Kenshiro said as he leapt off the engawa and took off after his target.

What Raiden and Kenshiro saw in question was one of Shang Tsung's guards sneaking around the lodge. However, something was off involving this guard as Kenshiro gave chase, following him down a forested pathway. As Kenshiro closed in on the guard, he saw that it was not armed with the naginata which all of the other guards were carrying, nor were they armed with the Chinese-style broadswords.

This one was armed with a razor-rimmed hat, of which it pulled from his back and flung it at Kenshiro. Kenshiro ducked under the deadly weapon and kicked the guard square in the jaw.

"A-TAH!"

**POW.**

The guard was knocked back. Kenshiro did not strike the guard's pressure points, leaving him alive, but with a very sore jaw as the guard landed roughly on his side.

"Wandered off the beaten path, haven't we?" Kenshiro asked as he grabbed the guard by the shirt and lifted him to his feet, pinning him to a tree.

"Stop!"

Kenshiro relented as Raiden appeared in a bolt of lightning. Raiden saw the weapon and had a pretty good idea as to who was behind the mask. Walking over to Kenshiro and his captive, Raiden reached over and removed the mask.

"Kung Lao?"

At that, Kenshiro released the man. "You know this guy?" he asked.

Raiden nodded.

Like Liu Kang, Kung Lao was not only a Shaolin Monk and member of the White Lotus Society, but he was named Kung Lao for a reason. That reason being was that aside from Liu Kang who was his younger cousin, he too was descended from the legendary Kung Lao, the same one who was defeated by Goro 2,000 years earlier. Kung Lao felt slighted that the Shaolin order had chosen Liu to be their champion, while he was denied the chance. Some would say that it was because of his ego, which was true, but mostly, he wanted to make his own legacy, away from that of his great ancestor, and that of his own cousin.

"What are you doing here?" Raiden demanded. "The Shaolin order chose Liu Kang to represent them in this tournament."

"I should have been the one the White Lotus should have chosen," Kung Lao replied. "I am more than Liu's equal. I was the eldest, and the elders chose him over me."

At that, Kenshiro's eye twitched. Kung Lao reminded him of Jagi and his inferiority complex.

"You're skilled, Kung Lao. That I will admit," Raiden pointed out. "But you are impulsive, brash and complacent in your abilities. Power without perception is useless and therefore has no true value."

Kung Lao huffed at that. He then turned to Kenshiro. "Who's he?"

"He's on our side," replied Raiden. "Go back to the lodge. We will talk there."

Kung Lao knew better than to argue with the God of Thunder. He retrieved his hat and stalked back towards the lodge, Raiden disappearing in a bolt of lightning. Kenshiro turned and followed Kung Lao up the pathway back to the lodge. Halfway there, he stopped, sensing someone watching him from the trees.

Without turning around, Kenshiro spoke. "I hope for your sake, that you are not here to kill me," he noted. "Far better people have tried. Even now, it's not that easy. Not even for you, Shang Tsung."

"You sensed my presence. I am impressed, Kenshiro," Shang complimented as he stepped from behind a tree, arms behind his back.

"Are you here to challenge me in Mortal Kombat?" Kenshiro asked as he faced the sorcerer.

"No. I'm not," Shang replied. "I am here only to talk."

"So talk."

Shang sized the younger man up. "I saw your little display of power earlier in the Palace Gardens. You have an interesting fighting style, as it kills on the first blow. It would be a shame for someone of your talents to serve someone the likes of Raiden. Why not work for me instead of against me? You see how weak Raiden is here on my island."

"You have nothing I want, sorcerer," Kenshiro replied and turned to leave.

"Every man has his price," Shang noted. "Including you...say, being able to return to your betrothed, Yuria?"

Kenshiro stopped in mid-step. One hand balled into a fist. Raiden had warned him that no matter what kind of mental defense he could put up, Shang Tsung can look inside his soul and use what he cherishes the most against him. That one thing which Kenshiro cherished above all things was his fiancee.

"Bring her up at your own risk," Kenshiro threatened.

"I can see into your soul, Kenshiro," Shang continued, twisting the knife. "You think you can protect Raiden and his warriors? I told you already that Raiden is weak compared to who I serve. She was taken from you by someone you once considered as a friend...and now you are competing to get her back. I can save you the grief and give her back to you. I do that for you, and you come to my side and fight for me."

Kenshiro walked over to Shang, and stared him down. "You can take your offer...and shove it, sorcerer."

Shang frowned. He did not like it when people told him off. "You disappoint me, Kenshiro. I thought you would be smarter than that. I come offering you the proverbial olive branch and you refuse such a generous offer. No matter. You and the rest of Raiden's chosen will not make if off my island alive, and I will take great pleasure in stealing your soul and learning your secrets."

"Far better men tried to kill me. You can look inside my soul as much as you like. But that does not mean that you will own it." With those words, Kenshiro left Shang alone. Shang then disappeared in a flash of green light.

Unknown to both men, Raiden had watched the entire conflict in the shadows, and nodded in approval. Weaker men would have been seduced by Shang's proposal of power. Thankfully, Kenshiro was not one of those.

'Maybe the little wolf was right about him after all,' he thought.

**Tenryū Kokyū Hō ((転龍呼吸法 Art of Dragon's Breathing).** Allows a Hokuto warrior to tap into the remaining seventy percent of their potential. Identified by seeing a significant increase in muscle mass.

**Hokuto Jūha Zan (柔破斬 North Star Breaking Soft Slash).** A barrage of kicks Kenshiro used on Mr. Heart to penetrate his mass, allowing him to strike at his vital points.

**Hokuto Rakan Geki (羅漢撃 North Star Arhat Attack).** Jagi's signature technique, consisting a series of rapid-fire thrusts.


End file.
